Dwimmermount Campaign Restart - The Village People

The player who plays Illyrio is actually an old school player who I played with back in the 80s.  Several of the other players are his kids.  We played a campaign before this and I impressed upon them the need to read the add players handbook suggestions.  They learned that it's better to run and come back with a plan then to die.  I might have printed out the old school primer and asked them to read it as well.

Nothing angers a party more than someone who takes away their Xp and gold.  They plan on going back and getting their treasure back when they are higher level.  I've come right out and told them that balance is NOT a thing.   My struggle is how much info to give them so they actually have a choice.

I couldn't have given them any more warning about the dragons. If they would have run out after Deathclaw peeked his head in, I would have let them get back to the lizardmen, as long as they didn't roll an encounter.  Greed made them stay and they payed a price.  It'll all work out for them once a few humidifiers are sold.

The other PC party are my son and his friends.  They only know the old school way, since that's the only type of game they've played.  They have really taken to it. I haven't had a chance to write up the summaries of that group,but they cleared out a level by going back through the map and figuring out likely secret door locations.  Now they have Dwimmersmite, a magic sword capable of finding secret doors (but not the way to open them).

VP expedition # 8 & 9

Village People:

  • Tariq the Harvester – Lvl 6 Mage (Necromancer) –Extremely short necromancer
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Mycah Pyrus</strong> – Lvl 3 Shaman – (Snake Healer) –– Armed with a staff.
    
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Reggie</strong> – small python – HD 2</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    	<li><strong>Tirion Snow</strong> – Lvl 4 Elven Ranger – STR +3, INT +1, WIS +1, DEX +3 Ch +1, Precise Shooting (stacks), Animal Training (panther), Animal Husbandry, FS – Missiles – wears leather and armed with a composite long bow
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>‘Panther’</strong> – Panther henchmen</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    

 

  • Eduardo aka ‘Keyser Soze’ – Lvl 7 Thief (Cat Burglar) – budding tycoon
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Ukla the Quick</strong> – Lvl 4 Barbarian (Pit Fighter) – fights with net and trident.
    
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Michael Thomas</strong> – Fighter 3 (guardsman) – Alertness, Signaling, , STR, DEX, CHA +1, INT -1 - wears plate mail and armed with a glaive</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    	<li><strong>Onde Vrazic</strong> – Familiar imp – Mimicry x2, Arcane Dabbling, Alertness</li>
    	<li><strong>Delwyn</strong> – Lvl 3 Village Witch – laying on hands, healing x2, familiar – Str -1 Int+1, WIS +1, DEX +@, CON -1, spell signatures based on potions, salves, balms, or foodstuffs.
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Bernard – </strong>Familiar – golden lab – laying on hands, soothsaying (sniffs butt), animal husbandry</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    

 

  • Dave ‘the Pure’ Carrin – Lvl 6 Cleric (Hermit) of Hera –Wears custom made plate (with symbol of Hera) + magical +1 shield
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Angela of Hera</strong> – Lvl 4 Cleric (proselytizer) –wears Plate and armed with a billhook</li>
    	<li><strong>Julia </strong>– Lvl &nbsp;2 Priestess WIS, CON +1, CHA +2 &nbsp;
    	<ul>
    		<li>3 priestesses</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    

 

  • Jace – Lvl 6 Mage (Elementalist) – quiet pyromaniac, wears robes with flames.
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Nakai</strong> – Altrusian (ancient lizardman) Elder Skull –</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    

 

  • Illyrio Sicarus – Lvl 5 Assassin (Bravo) – Wears leather, armed with Swordbreaker - +2 sword

When the party got back to Muntburg, Illyrio asked Tuccia to hire a new henchmen to replace Shalla and then scout out the situation in Winterburg in anticipation of the Village People hiring troops to take the city.  There was a lot of news from Shemp to catch up with when they got back:

  • The Raiders and the Seekers each had another successful delve into Dwimmermount
  • There was a new temple devoted to the divine power of law being built north of town.  It was being built by the Raiders, as Dante and Lazarus having been converted from worshipping Death.
  • Bishop Johann came into town to investigate stories of persons drained of blood and uncovered that a new town favorite, Cyrus, was actually a vampire.  He was actually renting one of the townhouses owned by the Raiders.  The ensuing battle resulted in Johann driving away the vampire (slaying a vampire turns it to mist) and the death of his henchman Annabella Mediate.  They also damaged the Raider’s Rentals. He was recovering in the new Temple of Death near the cemetery. 
  • Several farmers were missing from their farms in the fertile areas north of Muntburg.  The animals were left unharmed.

The party first spoke to Bishop Johann. He had raised Annabella, but she was still recovering from coming back.  He asked about the mountain and whether they had seen any signs of a vampire anywhere.  The party hadn’t  and offered assistance once Johann was ready to search for the crypt of Cyrus.

The party spent some time discussing what to do next.  Jace wanted to take the Altrusian skull back to it’s home (as promised).  Others wanted to go back to secure the pool of life.  Others wanted to go back to the area at the top of the elevator shaft (called the Divinitarium  by the stone face). Finally there were some that wanted to go back down where they had found the dwarves. 

The party decided to go to the Divinitarium.  Before they did, they decided to investigate the missing farmers.  At the home of one of the missing farmers they spoke to a young nephew of the missing family who was tending to the animals.  He looked away shamefully after meeting the gaze of Dave and recognizing him.  He explained that only the dog was slain and that no one saw anything.  It wasn’t ordinary bandits, as the formal family silver was left alone.  

Entering the house, they didn’t find any clues.  If there was a struggle, it did not end in bloodshed.  Dave decided to talk to the animals.  (The nephew became very concerned that Dave would talk to the sheep).  When Dave talked, the cat wasn’t willing to talk unless Dave brought him something to eat.  Luckily the nephew had a fish and the cat talked.

The cat explained that the mistress and her husband were taken by red skinned people.  They smelled like spices that the mistress used in her chili and moved almost as quietly as the cat moved.  They only other thing they took were some of the stuff the husband was always writing on and became angry at when the cat laid on it.  After they had captured the Mistress and her husband and began searching the home, strange music started to play, (something progressive with a heavy bass groove).  They left out of the door as quietly as they came. 

Suspecting the Eld, and curious what they had taken, they turned to the nephew. 

The nephew explained that the farmer was always wasting time reading and drawing.  The farmer, it turns out, fancied himself the descendant of a Thulian general.  He was an avid reader of military history and considered himself a cartographer.  He would often make maps of current political boundaries.  Fearing the worst, the party feared what this information could mean to an large organized force.

Dave spoke to some sheep, only to reveal that some ‘people’ came out of the house (and the reason for the nephew’s shame). They couldn’t give any more details.  The cow wasn’t much better.  Illyrio suggested they talk to the pig.  The pig was able to describe the strangers as tall, agile, thin red skinned men wearing harnesses of leather and metal.  They killed the dog and moved toward the house.  The pig fled and didn’t see anything else.  The pig also said they smelled slightly of cinnamon or a similar spice. 

The other animals on the other farms told similar stories of red men coming in the night and taking hostages but little valuables.  The party managed to meet with the Captain of the Guard, Alixandre Vaast, and mention their concerns.  The captain thanked them for their assistance and promised to increase patrols around Muntburg.  

The next morning, the party took some of their henchmen and headed into the mountain.  They met with members of the Crimson Band.  When they asked if there was anything new, they said that the goblins were now wearing ‘uniforms’ and livery.  When asked about it the goblins reported that they were now servants of the Thulian Empire!

The party went to the Stone head and asked “what was the Divinitarium level for?”  The head explained it was for communication with outposts and as a hangar for astral vessels (the party’s eyes went wide at mention of the word ‘hangar’). 

The party explored the Divinitarium in two expeditions.  In summary they:

  • Found a strange looking arcane helmet with the ability to see into various planes and sense magical energy.
  • Fought (and ran from) several new types of slime and plant creatures.
  • Met some githyanki and formed a non-aggression pact
  • Led two shambling mounds to the githyanki camp
  • Ended up leaving the dungeon in a flying metal sailing ship!!!  Jace figured out how to fly it by casting read magic on a manual in the helms
  • Recovered 12 shimmering robes (AC 12) and belts that create spheres of fresh air.

The party took the ship to the bottom of a small lake near Muntburg.  Leaving Ukla and Angela on the ship, using the air belts to exit through an ‘airlock’.  Eduardo’s imp asked him for a pirate hat (preferably one made out of baby skin).  The game ended with the party in Adamas.

I don't know if you intended this to be hilarious, but it was. I love how immediately after the non-aggression pact they betrayed them...

  • Met some githyanki and formed a non-aggression pact
  • Led two shambling mounds to the githyanki camp
  • Ended up leaving the dungeon in a flying metal sailing ship!

[quote="Alex"]

I don't know if you intended this to be hilarious, but it was. I love how immediately after the non-aggression pact they betrayed them...

[/quote]

Thanks.  It was.  The boat was not the githyanki's, it was there.  The party was actually careful NOT to break the letter of the deal, figuring that if the mounds killed them all it was o.k.

 

Raiders Update – Part 1

Previously the raiders had hired King RukRuk and the hobgoblins from level 2B.    Dante had talked them into moving out of the dungeon.  They settled in a few longhouses built north of Muntburg and lived off the land and supplies purchased for them as part of their monthly salaries.  Dante also retired his dogs to the home he built north of Muntburg.  Lazarus abandoned the church of Death he had built, turning it over to a priestess of death he had hired.  He built a large temple of law, with gold and marble interiors north of Muntburg.  He was able to bring a small number of followers with him.

When Dante converted I ruled that if he could make a save vs. spells he could swap out his proficiencies.  He would have to make progressive saves, each adding an additional -2.  I also ruled that if he spent his free time between adventures, he would get an additional save when he leveled uo too swap out more.  The same with his converted assassin henchman Barney. 

The party managed to clear about half of level 3B.  They wanted to extract azoth from the lakes they found.  They spoke with their old party member Isaac Stocker (who runs the moon pool operation in Dwimermount).  They also set up barracks on the level for 20 hobgoblins at a time (working in shifts). 

Issac and the party had looked at the maps and designed a path in and out for workers.   Combined with environment suits, an engineer control rod, the azoth processer, alchemists, and some additional human troops, Stocker Azothworks was founded, although it took several months to get operational.

The party had several expeditions into the dungeon and a lot happened:

  • Lazarus’ henchman Tendo was murdered and replaced by a doppleganger while the party was killing some carrion crawlers.  After some shenanigans in the Flask and Scroll Tavern, he was killed by Rufus and Lazarus.
  • Found Dwimmersmite – an intelligent eld and mage hating blade with the ability to detect hidden things, sense evil, and sense magic.  Begrudgingly accepted Dante as his wielder, until his conversion.  Now the sword is happy.
  • Found and sold lots of other magical items, notably Thulian plate for Dante and Lazarus (damaged by grey ooze), and Thulian chain for Rufus.
  • After summoning an angel (level 5 divine spell for clerics of Law) party ran into the Free Swords, the most famous adventuring party in the region.  After a Mexican standoff, the cleric of the free swords began casting a protective spell and it jumped off.  The angel refused to fight, but the Raiders were victorious.  The free swords’ mage got away.  The raiders chopped off the heads of the fallen free swords to prevent restore life and limb, putting the stone dwarven corpse into their bag of holding. 
  • One of the free swords was recognized as Hemmet of Death, one of Lazarus’ early mentors.
  • Lazarus found that angels no longer responded to his summoning spell after the fight with the Free Swords.  He cast Atonement daily for he and Dante.  They also spent 2000 gp tp feed the peasants around Muntburg. 
  • Met Krishka, the leader of the wererats.  They led her out of the dungeon for a map of the 5th level. 
  • The Raiders agreed to take out the Minotaur King
  • Found a device that played metal discs full of knowledge. 
  • The party hired the Seekers on a monthly basis to go through the discs with an agreement that they would not reveal the information discovered without checking with the Raiders first. The Seekers also had to agree not to go into other parts of the 3rd level.  (The Seekers set up a living quarters in a nearby section).
  • Marguerin The Mystical (Seekers) was able to get the Raiders to agree to allow the spread of arcane knowledge to help mankind. 
  • Lazarus got a tiger (and tiger trainer) to take into the dungeon.  It has proven to be harder to control than a guard dog, or Dante’s trained ape. 

 

 Rufus’ Raiders – Expedition 9

  • Rufus Hypnol– Lvl 7 Barbarian Death Dealer – Ambushing, Climbing, Armor Training, Profession – Gangster - STR +3, CHA -1, Thulian Chain and a +1 shield, wearing gauntlets of ogre strength and armed with a +2 sword
  • Dante – Lvl 8 Paladin – Precise Shooting, Mystic Aura, Toughness(+1hp/lvl), Fighting Style (two weapons), Weapon Finesse, Intimidation, Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus - swords – STR +1, INT +2 WIS -2, DEX +3, CON -1, Wears Thulian Plate mail, cloak of protection, and a ring of protection, wields dual magic blades – Dwimmersmite and Trollslayer,.  He has an unearthly appearance (gold eyes, with a burning intensity).  Occasionally wears a special pack with a hand pump pressure system to spray moon pool water – Servant of Law.
    • Barney – a level 6 paladin of law with manual of arms, riding, and toughness, wears fancy plate and a +1 spear. 
    • Tommy “big brain” – level 4 mage
  • Lazarus Deathbrood – Lvl 8 Cleric Exorcist – Sensing Evil, Intimidation, Apostasy, Theology, Diplomacy, Beast Friendship, Can cast Sanctuary 1x a day (power gained in dungeon) INT -1, WIS +1, DEX +2, CON +1 CHA +1 Wears damaged Thulian Plate and a magic shield, under a black cassock, armed with +2 warhammer, bloodthirsty Cleric of Law.
    • Tiger – a large tamed tiger – now a henchman
    • Adolphus Smart – a 3rd level mage

 

The Raiders decided to establish a realm dedicated to the power of law. After looking at maps of the area, they choose an unclaimed area near several small realms along the Lanis river basin east of Adamas.  They hired an explorer to survey the hexes of interest. They sent some mounted hobgoblin troops along with Barney with him.  He focused on the plains between the Barony of Dor and the Northern Thunderhome mountains.

Meanwhile, Rufus, Dante and Lazarus travelled to Adamas.  Lazarus was looking for a scroll of Summon Weather.  He met with Bishop Saidon, the leader of the church of Zeus. Lazarus and Dante introduced themselves as followers of the God of Law.  After some discussion, the Bishop  was willing to sell a scroll for 5,000 GP if Lazarus agreed to take on a young priest of Zeus as a henchman, which he did. 

The Raiders travelled to the Barony of Dor, the nearest small realm near their targeted area.   After a day, they managed to to meet Baron Jean Dor, who was holding court in his keep.  After a period of discussion, the Raiders explained that they intended to set up a realm to the south west of Dor.  The Baron agreed to sell them the rights his realm had to the unclaimed land (3 hexes worth) for 2000 GP.  The local Priest of Zeus had some resistance to the idea of allowing Lazarus to spread the worship of law to Dor, but the Baron agreed to that as well.

The Raiders were invited to dinner that evening and to stay as guests of the Baron.  The party joined several of the Baron’s underlings visiting from their realms.  Rufus pretended to get drunk and asked to be taken to his room. Using his natural stealth, he managed to sneak out and found what he assumed was the Baron’s room, guarded by two guards. He considered knocking them out but reconsidered, pretended he was drunk and lost and was escorted back to his room.  He did manage to memorize the layout and patrol locations for future reference.

Meanwhile Lazarus and Dante stayed at dinner.  After dinner, Lazarus challenged anyone to battle Dante for a show.  One of the Baron’s Tribunes, Aethalwolf Washer, agreed.  After agreeing to the terms - first blood (defined as first to ½ HP) with full armor and weapons. Lazarus made a 100 GP wager at 2 to 1 odds (he wanted more, but Aethalwolf didn’t have that much available). 

Dante won initiative, and with a roll of 19, managed a critical hit (house rule, weapon focus grants a critical hit on a natural 19, 20 or rolling 10 over what is needed to hit).  He did 21 damage with Dwimmersmite and Trollslayer, ending the fight with one blow with a vicious slash across Aethalwolf’s chest, drawing blood and dropping him to his knees.  Dante then kneeled over him, shouting “Behold the power of Law”, laying on hands and healing him of 16 HP of damage.  At the same time, Lazarus called on Law and cast Winged Flight on Dante, causing large angel wings to temporarily spring from his back (allowed 1x by artistic license).  Several people present dropped to their knees in reverence, including the local priest of Zeus, who immediately converted to the worship of the divine power of law and pledged himself to follow Dante as his humble servant. 

The next morning, Dante  and Lazarus met with the priest, Rento Corveno.   Lazarus paid to upgrade and covert the local temple from the worship of Zeus to the divine power of law.  Dante ordered Rento to follow Lazarus instead (used his intimidation and majestic aura to convince him). 

There also happened to be a small dwarf population and a temple to Vulcan in Dor (the party never really asked why Vulcan had a temple in such a small market). After a short consultation between the Raiders and the Craftpriest, he agreed to introduce them to some stone masons from the dwarven vaults in the nearby Heartstone Mountains who could help them build their fortified church/castle (for a fee of course).  He also marveled at the craftsmanship of some of their weapons and armor. 

Meanwhile the explorer, Barney, and the hobgoblins managed to sweep through several nearby hexes.  He found only a few horse herds (no other lairs) and estimated the value of the hexes (Actually my bad – I had classified them as Civilized, which should have meant that there were realms on them.  I now have decided that there are a few lairs not found by the explorer which will be revealed after the party moves in).  (Hexes 3522 – 6, 3253 – 7, several horse herds 3623 -6)

The party decided to build a fortress for Lazarus against the side of a mountain (taking advantage of the Cleric reduction in price).  They planned a keep (with the ability to burrow into the mountain at a later time), and a 40’ wall with two towers and a gatehouse.  The dwarves also were to level out the ground in the courtyard between the outer wall and the keep.  The party paid double to increase the speed at which the fortress was built.  Rufus stayed with the masons and the hobgoblin troops to protect the workers (player had to leave). Dante, Lazarus, and their henchmen decided to go back to Muntburg for an expedition into Dwimmermount.

The Raiders (Lords of Law) entered the dungeon with the intent to take out the Minotaur King on the 4th level once and for all.  They stopped by to check in with the Crimson Band (whom they pay to guard the entrance to level 2A).  They found out that the goblins started to wear livery and claimed to work for the Thulian Empire!  They made a note off it and travelled to the 4th level without any problems.

Upon arriving they realized they had forgotten the magical password to the teleportation maze (only remembering the first letter).  Their map, made for them by the leader of the wererats in return for helping her out of the dungeon, didn’t help (the wererats didn’t know it either).  They luckily found a room with a hint and they figured it out. 

During their expedition they:

  • Came across a termaxian mummy named Volusian, presented their termaxian passkey and found out that another party (the village people) had taken the treasure he was to guard. 
  • Ran into an adventuring party consisting of a man in strange armor and a single goblin.  The man, Citizen Rogers, was armed with a crowbar and strange weapons he called a ‘pistol’ and a ‘pulse rifle’.  The goblin was Redfang, a Goblin champion (now thief) formerly met by the village people (and Dante).  (See more below)
  • Found a room with twin tube chambers.  After clearing a fly out of one of them, Dante intimidated/charmed Barney into the chamber (causing his morale to drop by one) and Citizen Rogers figured out the controls.  A female clone of Barney, Barbie, a lvl 1 paladin, stepped out.  They gave her some clothes and a sword, and she immediately became a henchman of Dante. 
  • Found a room with a bed like tube.  After Lazarus volunteered by entering the tube, it slammed shut.  There were 10 buttons, but they only touched two:
    • One granted 60’ infravision
    • One opened the tube.

The party gave everyone infravision before moving on.

  • Found a room with a seductive woman in a protective circle.  She begged to be let free, but Dante and Dwimmersmite sensed she was evil, saw her true form and attacked.  The party made short work of her (with Dwimmmersmite) and managed to kill her before she could complete gating in a Balor demon. 
  • Lazarus saved the life of Redfang (somewhat reluctantly), after he was poisoned by phase spiders.
  • Killed the minotaur king and all of the minotaurs, taking his treasure and keys.
  • Found the last of the wererats and offered to cure them.  Lazarus was able to cure one of them immediately through use of Remove Curse, Cure Disease, and Bless. Two others joined the party to leave the dungeon and be cured.  The rest refused, and the party left. 
  • Dante went back to check on something, entered the room with the remaining wererats, and slayed them all in short order. 

The Lords of Law (Raiders) left the dungeon with the reformed wererats.  They convinced Citizen Rogers to come with them to re-provision, offering him free lodging in one of their apartments north of Old Muntburg.

The Tale of Citizen Rogers (with nods to Half-Life and ERB)

              Citizen Rogers was a simple physicist.  On his first day on the job at a government facility, there was an accident involving portals to another world.  After a long series of adventures, he found himself to be the hero of a revolt against the alien overlords of his home, the planet “Earth”.

              There were several people who choose to serve the new alien overlords.  They became the ‘combined’, humans enhanced through cybernetic enhancement and genetic manipulation.  One of the combine leaders managed to escape the overthrow of alien rule by leaping through a portal.  He ended up on Telluria, north of Dwimmermount.  He arrived around 400 years ago.  When he arrived, he found he had a connection with the divine power of law.  He dedicated himself to protecting the people of the Thulian Empire from chaotic threats (demons, undead, and eventually the Termaxians).

              A small cult grew around him.  Due to his strange armor (which was part of him), he became known as the Iron God.  His followers began to receive divine spells, not from him, but from the divine power of law he followed.  After Terms Termax’s apotheosis, he entered Dwimmmermount with a group of ardent followers in an attempt to end Terms’ rule.   That was the last anyone had ever heard from him.

              Meanwhile, the rebels on Earth started receiving automated downloads from the Iron God (using captured equipment).  Time passes differently on Telluria, as 400 years equaled only a month on Earth.  Citizen Rogers was troubled by the idea of the Combined enslaving another world.  He volunteered to travel to this new world and bring back the Iron God to face justice on Earth.

              Citizen Rogers ended up being immediately captured by the Warpig Tribe, a group of Orcs living in the lands north of Winterburg.  He had several adventures, eventually befriending a subchief, Agnar.  He bested the Chief and became the leader of the Warpigs.  He lead several tribes and took the City of Winterburg from a number of Ogre tribes led by a Balor (a powerful demon).  Citizen Rogers bested the demon and took the city.

              Citizen Rogers abdicated in favor of Agnar.  He saw in his friend more than a desire to lord over others.  Agnar promised to take care of not only the orc tribes, but also the remaining human families in the realm.  Citizen Rogers left Winterburg in search of the Iron God.  He ran into a group of goblin raiders.   After a short battle, he convinced the gang leader, Redfang, to join him on his quest.  Redfang brought Citizen Rogers into the dungeon using the newly dug goblin entrance to the Path of Mavors.

I like your explanation for the Iron God!

Is Law more powerful than Zeus, etc. in your campaign? It seems like it is, but I can't tell if that's just PC special sauce or game mechanical.

[quote="Alex"]

Is Law more powerful than Zeus, etc. in your campaign? It seems like it is, but I can't tell if that's just PC special sauce or game mechanical.

[/quote]

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

 

Technically 'Zeus' is an artifical intelligent satellite floating in orbit of Telluria created by the ancients.  I haven't really defined what 'the divine power of law' actually is yet but I guess it would be 'above' Zeus in a celestial heirarchy. 

Now the temples of Zeus don't know any of this, so SOME of them consider the worship of the divine power of law (and/or a god over the gods) as a cult.  I have decided that the Temples of Zeus are headquartered in a city state to the south and the inquisition are already in Muntburg (I'm still way behind in my campaign logs).  The temples in Volmar (who call themselves the Holy Thulian Empire) are all part of the Great Thulian Church, and part of a theocracy ruled by the Holy Thulain Emperor.  

Village People  - Campaign Activities (Late June through July 3rd)

While in Adamas, Keyser (AKA Eduardo) put out through various back channels that he was looking for a dead baby.  A meeting was arranged with a member of the Deathbringers, an assassin’s guild with links to the Termaxians.   Illyrio and Keyser met with the deathbringer.  After a darkly humorous exchange (in which the imp was an invisible participant) an agreement was made.  A baby would be ‘obtained’, tortured, and killed.  The skin would be dyed and made into a fashionable pirate style hat.   Half was paid up-front.  The sealed box would be delivered to Murray at Stocker Industries in Adamas in exchange for the remaining half of the cost.  Illyrio was silent but disgusted (and received a corruption point).  Keyser received 4 corruption points and the imp was VERY pleased. 

Illyrio’s henchman explorer Tuccia (along with her 2 sub-henchman) came back from their scouting of Winterburg.  They had a sketch of the city and reported hill giants living in the old temple, two distinct groups of orcs, and several riding boars.  They also went into the areas surrounding the town and spoke to several peasant families.  They reported two distinct orc tribes, the warpigs and the white hand.  The white hand were cruel overlords, while the warpigs were actually better than their prior human lords.

Keyser started planning for taking the town.  He created a 2nd character (giving all of his apartment properties to the Legate of Muntburg to boost his xp bank), a warlord named Farouk Maud’Dib.  He began hiring peasants and training them as soldiers.  Farouk eventually hired soldiers and a fighter bow marshal henchmen.  

Meanwhile, Illyrio had hired a matron to take care of his orphans, a sage to teach them to read and write common and high imperial and had Keyser’s thief henchman Shemp come over to train them ‘magic tricks’ (i.e. sleight of hand) to evaluate them for potential as thieves.  (He rolled up the stats and ages for each).

Dave ordered matching robes for all of his followers to wear, as well as custom clothing/armor for his henchmen.  He also purchased the common recipe for a healing potion from the Adamas church of Hera.  He managed to successfully make two potions and failed making two potions.

Tariq looked into making scrolls of dismember using the shadowstuff they took out of the dungeon.  He also researched some rations packs found in the flying ship. They not only were equal to one full days rations, they doubled the natural healing rate. He came up with a formula to replicate them, but required raw azoth to make them.  He also threw a huge party in Muntburg (in Keyser’s bar) to build up his xp bank, which he used to create a 2nd character, an elven ranger, who eventually went to Elphame (the elven realm to the north) to hire a henchman – an elven enchantress. 

Jace hired a fighter henchman as a meat shield (having previously hiring Jillian, a sage henchman specializing in ancient lizardman (Altrusian) culture).

Two more things

1) - Eduardo's henchmen Ukla had kept Barnabus Bannon the ne'er well corsair as his henchman.  He was killed in the expedition in which they found the flying boat.  After being risen in Adamas, he ended up as part baboon and part man (from a poor rool on the tampering with mortality table).  He dissapeared into the slums of Adamas, never to be seen again.

2) - No other memmber of the party is aware of the dead baby part of the pirate hat, and Dave hasn't yet figured out that Onde is a devil.  The imp stays invisible around him just in case.  

 

What character class are you using for "warlord" (great name btw)

 

One of the ones mentioned in the ACKs forums.  Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzGd3G4QHnPFNGtFbVdmRmNWdTg

which I stole and posted here:

https://dwimmermountthevillagepeople.obsidianportal.com/wikis/warlord

 

Village People  - Expedition 10 – The Elder Skull

Village People:

  • Tariq the Harvester – Lvl 6 Mage (Necromancer) –Extremely short necromancer
  • Eduardo aka ‘Keyser Soze’ – Lvl 7 Thief (Cat Burglar) – budding tycoon
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Ukla the Quick</strong> – Lvl 4 Barbarian (Pit Fighter) – fights with net and trident.</li>
    	<li><strong>Onde Vrazic</strong> – Familiar imp – Mimicry x2, Arcane Dabbling, Alertness</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    
  • Dave ‘the Pure’ Carrin – Lvl 6 Cleric (Hermit) of Hera –Wears custom made plate (with symbol of Hera) + magical +1 shield
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Angela of Hera</strong> – Lvl 4 Cleric (proselytizer) –wears Plate and armed with a billhook</li>
    	<li><strong>Jane </strong>– Lvl 3 Swordmage (2<sup>nd</sup> PC for Dave’s player) – wears magical robes, armed with a sword</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    
  • Jace – Lvl 6 Mage (Elementalist) – quiet pyromaniac, wears robes with flames.
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Nakai</strong> – Altrusian (ancient lizardman) Elder Skull</li>
    	<li><strong>Connor </strong>– Fighter and personal bodyguard/meatshield</li>
    	<li><strong>Jillian</strong> – Lvl 4 Sage and specialist in history and Altrusian culture.&nbsp;</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    
  • Illyrio Sicarus – Lvl 5 or 6 Assassin (Bravo) – Wears leather, armed with Swordbreaker - +2 sword

The party agreed to Jace’s demand to return Nakai, the talking skull of an ancient lizard man elder, to his home (Note: Practically speaking, Nakai is a treasure map, reskinned as a talking skull).  They took the flying boat, leaving in the early morning before dawn on July 1st.  The party had hired a captain and small crew, and the skull pointed the way.  They ran into a few flying creatures, but all of them wanted to avoid a fight.  They made it to the Northern Forest of Ur the same day, arriving over a small clearing in the canopy of the forest through which the ruins of a city and an ancient temple were visible.

The clearing was too small to safely land the ship.  After some discussion, Dave climbed on deck and used Control Plants to get the trees to move out of the way, providing a clear landing site.  The party saw the remains of several buildings being overrun by the forest, a large step temple, and a giant face carved into the side of a rock cropping converting a waterfall into a fountain. 

Nakai directed them to a large building to the west off the pyramid.  They fought a few giant tarantulas, Angela charming one into following her.  They entered a stairway into a room filled with a raised circular stone bowl filled with ashes.  In a box to the side was some dried wood.  Jace happily started a fire in the bowl and a door opened in the wall. The party entered into a another chammber with a raised platform filled with water and 4 hallways branching off. 

The party followed Nakia’s directions and entered a large vaulted room with a rectangular pit with stairs leading to the pit.  In the wall were carved alcoves, all but one containing a lizard man skull. At the end of the  room was an ornate stone sarcophagus with images of a jeweled lizard man.  When the party entered all of the skulls turned toward them and greeted Nakai.   Jace and Jillian spoke to them in Altrusian (ancient lizard man).  The sarcophagus opened, and a mummy exited!  It also spoke to Jace and Nakai.  The mummy identified herself as Rassmi, an ancient Altrusian queen.  She thanked the party for returning Nakai, forgiving their intrusion.  She cautioned them to avoid awakening the Powerful Lich-King across the hall.

Suddenly Angela and her spider were surprised as they were hit with several large spines as large as crossbow bolts!  The party was pinned down momentarily as they were bombarded by spines.  As the armored members of the party moved forward, whatever creatures were attacking also moved back.  Tariq managed to summon some zombie berserkers, which provided enough interference for the party to set up defensive positions in the hallway.  The creatures were manticores.   Illyrio, Ukla, and some more berserkers managed to get close enough to draw one of the manticores into melee.  That provided interference for the spell casters to each let loose with a lightning bolt and a fireball, which managed to finish them off (and damage parts of the manticore’s treasure hoard, lessening it’s value by several thousand GP value). The hallway led to the damaged nest with stairs leading up through the step pyramid

Using his astral helmet, Jace was able to see a source of magical energy 50’ away through the wall.  They searched the hallway until they found a secret door leading to a storage room containing crates of low value gems and crystals worth well over 10K gold in total.  There was also a intricately carved teak box.  It contained 2d6 Ioun stones (10) of random ability.

The party also discovered another secret door leading to a room with a large carved doorway on the wall (with no door).  Next to the doorway was a pedestal with a large grid filled with crystals and gems like the ones they had found.  There were murals on the walls of ornately dressed lizardmen stepping through a misty doorway.  The party took note but decided not to experiment with the pedestal.  The party took the loot back to the ship to identify the stones. 

The party managed to identify some of the stones, including two that increased CON and WIS by 1, a stone that absorbed level 1 through 3 spells and one that absorbed spells level 1 through 6!  The party decided to rest and with the power of the stones, disturb on the ancient Lich King’s rest!!!

The next day they went back to the tunnels under the ruins of the city.  They made their way to a room showing carvings of the Lizard King in battle and being offered sacrifices of enemies (appearing to be other lizardmen and goblins).  On the southern most wall was a bas relief of the Lizard King holding out a goblet, which extended from the wall.  The party decided that the goblet needed to be filled with the blood of a sentient.  Tariq volunteered, cutting himself to fill the cup (he was quickly healed by Dave and Angela). 

The relief swung open, revealing a sparse room with a stone throne, bordered with two braziers lit with magical flame.  On the throne sat the skeletal form of the Lizard Lich-King!  He wore a necklace with a huge ruby.  He raised his head and ordered the party in Altrusian to immediately leave or die!.  The party attacked.

The Lich-King moved very slowly, but as Illyrio and Ukla attacked, their weapons felt as though they were moving through molasses as they stuck him.  (Note: custom torpor spell, while under its affects, always last in initiative but ½ damage from all physical attacks (including magical attacks with physical elements, e.g. certain forms of magic missile)).  The lich cast a 5th level spell, but Illyrio’s stone absorbed it. 

Realizing that they had the Ioun stones (they were his stones after all), he changed his strategy.  He slashed Illyrio, and started casting protective spells. Illyrio managed to get successful acrobatics roll and backstab the creature.  With his AOE offensive spells effectively neutralized, and vastly outnumbered, the lich king cast trap the soul, placing his soul inside Ukla, and Ukla’s soul in the gem around his neck.  The next round, the body of the Lich-King was taken down.  Summoned berserkers immediately chopped it in half. 

Tariq, Dave and Jace put their heads together.  They knew that there must be a phylactery somewhere.  They ordered the berserkers to smash the gem on the necklace.  The lich (as Ukla) immediately attacked with surprise.  He was tackled by the party just as the gem was smashed, bringing his soul back into his body, and returning the lich to his body.  The body was torn to pieces before he could recover.

The party searched the room and found a hidden switch, allowing the heavy throne to move, revealing a small niche containing an ornately carved black opal box.  The bottom of the box had been carved out, leaving a heart shaped black opal as part of the bottom.  Fearing the lich would reform and seek revenge, Dave took the box, cast bless, and decided to take it to Bishop Johann of Death to make sure it was safe. 

The party took the remains of the necklace and flew back to town.    

Catching up  - 

Village People – Campaign activities Early July

The party brought the black onyx heart box to the Temple of Death in Muntburg where Bishop Johann was awaiting his henchman’s recovery before entering Dwimmermount to kill the vampire Cyrus once and for all.  Tariq REALLY wanted the box, but Johann confirmed that it was likely a phylactery, and that if it was not destroyed, the lich would come back to life.  He quickly whipped out a scroll and cast dispel evil. 

Before Tariq could react, he threw the box down to the ground, blasted it apart with his explosive weapon, smashed it with his ‘sword of light’, poured oil on it, and cast flame strike.  While the party sat in stunned silence, he asked his follower to get some holy water.   Johan told him to wait until the fire burned out, mix the ashes and remains with holy water, and then bury them at a crossroads.  He looked at the party and in a calm voice stated, “just to be sure”.   

(Note: due to the delay in the write-ups, the exact timing of some of these activities might be off.  I only track the completion dates, not the start dates in the campaign calendar)

Eduardo sent Ukla to Adamas, where he hired a war mage henchman (who just left the war college due to a romantic tryst).  Farouk also hired a blacksmith, some apprentices, and more troops. The party had previously built a boathouse to hide the boat, along with some long houses for barracks, and a cottage for Delwyn.  They paid the standard 10% fee to the Legate. 

Illyrio had hired two spies to watch the entrance path to Dwimmermount prior to their trip to return the skull home.  They reported that they saw a few patrols come and go into some ruined fortifications built on the winding road to the red doors of Dwimmermount.   Dave ‘hired’ two owls (by promising them fresh mice) to watch the area, and Illyrio paid the spies a bonus and asked them to keep it up. 

The party decided to tackle the eld.  Illyrio had Murray find and purchase him 2 potions of detect invisibility (the max number available) and a potion of true seeing in Adamas.    They gathered some of their henchman and traveled to Dwimmermount.

Awesome stuff. I love the re-skinned treasure map as a talking skull, that's very clever.

[quote="Alex"]

Awesome stuff. I love the re-skinned treasure map as a talking skull, that's very clever.

[/quote]

Thanks.  The reskinning was just me being lazy, as it saved me from actually drawing a map.  

Village People  - Expedition 11 – Against The Eld

Village People:

  • Tariq the Harvester – Lvl 6 Mage (Necromancer) –Extremely short necromancer

 

  • Eduardo aka ‘Keyser Soze’ – Lvl 7 Thief (Cat Burglar) – budding tycoon
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Ukla the Quick</strong> – Lvl 5 Barbarian (Pit Fighter) – fights with net and trident.
    
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Michael Thomas</strong> – Lvl 3 Fighter Guardsman – fights with glaive and plate</li>
    		<li><strong>Furgal Porter </strong>– Lvl 3 War Mage – Fights with sword, leather and shield</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    	<li><strong>Onde Vrazic</strong> – Familiar imp – Mimicry x2, Arcane Dabbling, Alertness</li>
    	<li><strong>Delwyn</strong> – lvl 4 Witch – Village Healer
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Bernard</strong> – dog familiar with pack and healing skills.</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    

 

  • Dave ‘the Pure’ Carrin – Lvl 7 Cleric (Hermit) of Hera –Wears custom made plate (with symbol of Hera) + magical +1 shield
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Angela of Hera</strong> – Lvl 5 Cleric (proselytizer) –wears Plate and armed with a billhook
    
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Spider – </strong>A charmed giant tarantula</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><strong>Jace</strong> – Lvl 6 Mage (Elementalist) – quiet pyromaniac, wears robes with flames.
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Connor </strong>– Fighter and personal bodyguard/meatshield</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    

 

  • Illyrio Sicarus – Lvl 6 Assassin (Bravo) – Wears magical leather, armed with Swordbreaker
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Tuccia</strong> – Lvl 4 Explorer – Pathfinder – wears leather w/ arbalest/hand axe</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    

The spies and 1 owl had determined a ruin that the eld disappeared into.  The other owl never showed.  Dave used speak with plants to speak with a bush that grew from the side of the mountain alongside the ancient fortification. It reported that it felt the passage of groups after the sun set. 

The party moved into a fortification on the path to the red doors (above the fortification with the alchemist’s door).  The walls forced the party to a winding path with defensible chokepoints.  Tuccia was able to find some tracks, but they ended at the mountainside wall in the upper part of the fortification.  The party was able to find a secret door in the wall.  They opened it with the henchman watching their back. 

The door opened into passage which opened into a room filled with green gas.  Luckily each of the PCs and Ukla had their belts of adaption which surrounded them with fresh air.  They entered the room and found some side chambers and what appeared to be a stone door casing without a door on one of the walls.  The room had some tables, chairs, couches, etc. and appeared to be lived in. 

Suddenly the stone in the casing began to shimmer, revealing a room on the other side.  Several large creatures charged into the room.   They were furred and powerfully muscled, moving quietly despite their size.  Jace identified them as bugbears.   Although some of them started gagging in the gas, others started attacking.  There were also a few strangely armored red skinned elves that remained in the room.  One of them shot into the room with magical devices strapped to their wrists.  The party assumed this to be the eld.  A carefully placed fireball from Jace, combined with some cleaving from Illyrio and Ukla took care of the bugbears and one of the eld on the other side of the portal and the portal closed suddenly.

Meanwhile several of the henchman outside of the secret passage fell asleep, as several blasts of arcane energy blasted the others.  Another secret door on a wall had opened behind them.  Luckily Angela (lvl 5) was immune to the spell.  Her spider (which had climbed up the mountain side previously) and Tuccia (keeping watch with her bow) were out of the area of effect. 

Dave managed to make it back to the fight in time for his stone to absorb a spell cast from the secret door.  Several eld charged into battle, while others fought.  The party managed to take them out without losing any party members, keeping an eye on the portal as well.  They also managed to capture the lead eld.

The party recovered several of the wrist weapons.  There was a longer two handed magical weapon (a rifle) that was damaged in the fight and not recovered.  They also were able to recover several suits of lightweight, effective eld armor.  Inside of the secret rooms they found weapon racks, lockers with several magical rations packs found before, a large chest, and a small chest.  Next to the large chest was a wooden box with lots of small pouches.  The large chest was filled with red sand/dirt and a small metal scoop.  Inside of the small chest were several small coin shaped metal discs.  Jace figured out that the discs could be placed inside of the wrist weapons. 

The party also found a desk with a number of maps of the area, lists of garrison sizes and local leaders written in eldritch, and a large map of the western continents with a half dozen locations marked, including Dwimmermount. There were also lists of eld, and the party estimated that approximately 1000 eld were currently on Telluria.

The party found that the slain eld all had small pouches with the red sand in it on them.  The bugbears did not.  The party had a hunch and took one of the pouches, approaching the portal.  It shimmered to life and a large number of bugbears attacked.  The combined power of the party cut them down.  They chased a few fleeing ones into a 30 by 30 room on the other side of the portal before they could reach the corridor leading out of the room.

The room on the other side of the portal had 4 other portals on the wall.  The party decided to open one of the doors.  Illyrio and Keyser hid while Jace approached the door.   As it shimmered to life, it revealed a large number of eld inside of a stone room, with windows overlooking a heavy forest below.  Jace quickly moved away from the portal and it closed.

The party did some quick planning, got into battle formation, and prepared for a fight.  When they opened the portal again, they found that the room was empty.  Illyrio and Dave cautiously moved forward, when suddenly they heard chanting and Illyrio’s and Dave’s Ioun stones flashed as they absorbed several spells and several Eld suddenly appeared!  After a pitched fight, most of the eld in the room were killed.  The party called for the surrender of the eld leader (in eldritch).   He answered in common, calling them unworthy.  The men of this world were only worthy to be the slaves of the eld. He told the party to surrender, or else they would be overwhelmed by the hundreds of eld present in the fortress. 

Several more eld entered the room.  Illyrio moved to take them out when he was suddenly attacked by several small demonic creatures, previously invisible.  Their claws were coated in a poison that reduced his DEX!  Onde recognized them as ‘quasits’, untrustworthy and viscous little demons.  The party finished off the rest of the eld and demons in the room.  Not knowing how many other eld were on their way, heavily injured, and low on spells, the party decided to quickly retreat, without taking time to loot the bodies.  They managed to make it back to the mountain path and weren’t followed. 

They made it back to Keyser’s compound just south of Muntburg.  There they interrogated the captured eld.  After several attempts by Jace and Tariq, he was finally charmed.  He then shared the plans of the eld.   The eld were from a single noble house from the planet Aeron.  They were moving slowly in re-capturing Telluria to avoid notifying the other eld noble houses.  He verified that the map with locations were locations of eld strongholds.  He explained that the eld intended to rule over humanity and the other races of Telluria.  He was looking forward to keeping the party as his ‘pets’/‘favored servants’ when the eld retook the world. 

The eld leader went back with Tariq and Jace to stay in their laboratory/library/home/warehouse in Muntburg.  The rest of the party didn’t trust him.  Their suspicion was correct (With a high INT, he made his daily save and saved when the spell was recast earlier that night).  The party was able to recapture and kill him. 

Sounds like an exciting session. Cool that they're starting to get their hands on that sweet Eld gear.

I'm behind on my camp[aign updates and getting ready for the busy summer gaming season when the kids are back from college, so here goes:

Expedition 12 – Against the Gith; or Too many henchmen end up dead

Village People:

  • Tariq the Harvester – Lvl 6 Mage (Necromancer) –Extremely short necromancer
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Tirion Snow</strong> – Lvl 4 Elven Ranger – adventurer with amazing stats - Animal Husbandry, Animal Handling (large cats), precise shooting, fighting style (missile), wears leather and armed with a composite bow and sword.
    
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Visanti Aeryen</strong>– Lvl 1 Elven Enchanter – Transmogrifier – wears elven cloak</li>
    		<li><strong>Panthers(3)</strong></li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><strong>Eduardo aka ‘Keyser Soze’ </strong>– Lvl 7 Thief (Cat Burglar) – budding tycoon
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Ukla the Quick</strong> – Lvl 5 Barbarian (Pit Fighter) – fights with net and trident.
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Michael Thomas</strong> – Lvl 3 Fighter Guardsman – fights with glaive and plate</li>
    		<li><strong>Furgal Porter </strong>– Lvl 3 War Mage – Fights with sword, leather and shield</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    	<li><strong>Onde Vrazic</strong> – Familiar imp – Mimicry x2, Arcane Dabbling, Alertness</li>
    	<li><strong>Delwyn</strong> – lvl 4 Witch – Village Healer
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Bernard</strong> – dog familiar with pack and healing skills.</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><strong>Dave ‘the Pure’ Carrin</strong> – Lvl 7 Cleric (Hermit) of Hera –Wears custom made plate (with symbol of Hera) + magical +1 shield.&nbsp; He has an unearthly appearance (eyes burn into your soul, revealing your inner guilt/purity)
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Angela of Hera</strong> – Lvl 5 Cleric (proselytizer) –wears Plate and armed with a billhook
    	<ul>
    		<li><strong>Spider – </strong>A charmed giant tarantula</li>
    	</ul>
    	</li>
    	<li><strong>Jane</strong> – Lvl 3 Sword Mage – Weapon finesse (others unselected), armed with sword and dagger.</li>
    	<li><strong>Jimmy Bakerson</strong> – Lvl 0 – caretaker of the temple of Hera and budding priest.</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><strong>Jace</strong> – Lvl 6 Mage (Elementalist) – quiet pyromaniac, wears robes with flames.
    <ul style="list-style-type:circle">
    	<li><strong>Connor </strong>– Lvl 3 Fighter-Mercenary - personal bodyguard/meatshield</li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><strong>Illyrio Sicarus</strong> – Lvl 6 Assassin (Bravo) – Wears magical leather, armed with Swordbreaker and a magical dagger</li>
    

With them was their ally/rival from the Raiders/Lords of Law:

  • Dante – Lvl 8 Paladin – Precise Shooting, Mystic Aura, Toughness(+1hp/lvl), Fighting Style (two weapons), Weapon Finesse, Intimidation, Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus - swords – STR +1, INT +2 WIS -2, DEX +3, CON -1, Wears Thulian Plate mail, and wields dual magic blades – Dwimmersmite and Trollslayer,.  He has an unearthly appearance (gold eyes, with a burning intensity).

The party decided to go into Dwimmermount to remove the gith threat in the divinatarium.  Dante from the Raiders came with them (son visiting from college).  They made it up to the elevator and the level without any problems.  The party keep Jimmy, the panthers, and Visanti to guard the elevator room (limiting their XP to 10% of a share).  They made their way to the throne room where they had seen the ‘Captain’ of the Gith, only slowing down by burning down a group of slime zombies.  

The players thought they heard something after the fight, but nothing was there (the PCs rolled a wandering monsters check and got a ‘1’, which indicated a monster.  They then rolled for the monster on the chart and the range.  I will adjudicate what the ‘monster’ will do, and have the PCs roll to see if they are surprised and/or notice the monster.  Sometimes the monster will avoid the party.  In this the wandering monster result was a gith patrol.  They heard the party, but the party did not hear them.  The gith (a fighter and mage), ran ahead to tell the ‘Captain’, and returned to track them, staying out of lantern range, and ending up behind them). 

The party reached the throne room and entered from the southwest.  They saw the leader standing on the throne dais.  There were also three gith warriors and a single mage in the eastern part of the room.  The gith ‘Captain’ greeted the party and asked them to stop while they speak their business. 

The entire 18-member party was not able to get all the way into the room at this point, some of them winding into the hallway outside of the SW door (mostly the henchmen guarded by Angela and her spider). After a short conversation involving perfectly reasonable levels of mistrust, combat broke out.  Having wiped the floor with the Eld, the party was very confident.  They found out the difference between 1 round of preparation by the enemy and 10 minutes of prep.

No one was surprised on the first round.  The leader of the gith had previously cast haste and giant strength on himself and started casting mirror image.  Dante and Illyrio charged to engage the Captain, Ukla charged towards the warriors, and Dave started casting Hold Person. Jace summoned some magma-men (berserkers) and Tariq tried to hit the leader with a choking grasp, but he made his save.  Keyser shot at the Captain and missed.     

Dante and Illyrio reached the Captain, while Dave successfully held two of the warriors.  Ukla engaged one of the Warriors in an attempt to reach the mage. 

Suddenly from behind the party in the hall, they heard chanting and a web of mystical energy captured most of the party in the hall.  A gith mage appeared in a hallway to their rear.  Most of the henchmen were caught in the web.  The spider managed to avoid the web (it IS a spider) and Angela made her save, avoiding being caught.  She charged the mage only to be surprised when a gith warrior appeared and sliced her, blocking her progress.

Dante and Illyrio reached the Captain, while Dave successfully held the mage and one of the warriors.  Jace’s magma men moved to support the fight against the captain. 

The next round, three additional gith warriors charged through the door.  Angela and the spider traded blows with the gith warrior in the hall way, and Dave started casting again.  Keyser managed to kill one of the held gith.  The hasted Captain struck a mighty blow against Dante (taking him down to ½ of his HPs), while he, Illyrio, and the magma men managed to reduce his mirror images.

The mage in the hallway cast lightning bolt, which store through Angela, her spider, and after bouncing off a wall, through most of the henchmen.  It dropped all of the henchmen except Connor, Ukla, and Tyrion (who remained caught in the web).  Dave managed to hold two more of the Gith, and Ukla and Keyser took them down. 

The next round Illyrio, the magma men, and Dante attacked the Captain.  Dwimmersmite sang as it cut him (double damage is nasty).  The Captain cleaved through some magma men.  Dave was locked into combat with the last remaining gith warrior.  Jace and Tariq cast spells, and Keyser shot at the Gith in the hallway, taking them down. 

The gith Captain started casting in attempt to escape, and Dante and Illyrio finished him off.  Jace, Tariq, and Keyser started to try to reach the fallen henchmen in an attempt to save them.  Dave was stuck in combat with the remaining gith warrior.  The next round Illyrio managed to help Dave finish off the last warrior and Jace and Tariq managed to use their healing skill on some of the henchman. 

After combat, Dante, Dave, Tariq, and Jace used healing on the henchmen.  The results were ugly:

  • Angela chest was severely burned, and her spider was crippled, losing 2 of its legs. 
  • Both of Delwyn’s arms were burned off, and her familiar Bernard was dead.
  • Furgal, Michael Thomas, and Jane were down to 1 HP and needed rest. 

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, they decided to quickly collect what they could and leave the dungeon.  Jace cast detect magic and discovered that each of the gith warriors had magical swords, each mage had magical bracers, and one of the mages had a wand.  The Captain also had magical armor, a magical cloak, and a serrated magical sword.  There was also a chest with treasure plundered by the gith.

In the ear of the Captain was also a magical device.  Illyrio took it out and could hear a voice coming from it.  It spoke in a strange language.  Illyrio spoke back and the voice responded in common.  The voice identified himself as the ACTUAL captain of the gith vessel.  He asked about the status of his men.  When he found out they were dead, he paused before making a simple demand.  The party could keep any treasure they found by right of combat, but they MUST leave all swords, armor, cloaks, and bracers.  If they did so, he would let them live and each group would go their own way.  Illyrio and x came to an agreement that the party could take the bracers but would leave the magical plate and all of the swords in the throne room.  The Captain stated he would send a patrol to collect them.  If the party betrayed him, however, the gith would never rest until they hunted the party down and made them pay.

The party discussed their next move.  They all agreed that they had to leave immediately.  Onde the imp told Keyser that the gith were no joke. The leader’s sword was sacred to them, and that the threat to track them was real.  The party decided to risk it, put everything in Dave’s bag of holding, and headed to the exit as quickly as they could, carrying their wounded.  They took the earpiece with them. 

Illyrio and Keyser lead the way, with Dante and Ukla protecting the rear.  They were slowed substantially by the wounded.  They made it about halfway before Ukla noticed they were being followed. A lightning bolt shot through the rear of the party, striking Jace, Tariq, Connor, Ukla and Dante. Saves were made and no one was killed (Dante’s armor absorbed some of the damage as well). 

80 feet Behind the party were 3 gith warriors, a gith mage and another gith leader with a serrated sword.  Illyrio, Keyser and Dave protected the henchmen while mages turned to face the new threat.  Conner remained with his boss and Ukla and Dante ran towards the battle.  The gith lost initiative.  A portal to the elemental plane of fire opened and a ball of fire blasted them.  It was soon followed by a blast of necrotic energy.  All the lesser gith were destroyed and the leader lost his spell. 

The next round the gith won initiative and opened a tear into the astral plane, and stepped through, ending up in the middle of the party! (Dimension door).  The hasted Lieutenant, with his enchanted giant strength, struck down Connor, cleaved through Jace, cleaved through Tariq, and slashed Dante with a massive cut, taking him below 5 HP.  Ukla missed. Dante and cut him down as Dwimmersmite cut through the spellcasting gith like a hot knife through butter. 

As the healers quickly attended to the fallen, Dante grabbed the earpiece of the fallen Lieutenant and spoke to the gith captain.  They traded threats and Dante threw it down.  The party quickly stripped the bodies of the fallen gith and left the dungeon.

Jace cast identify on one of the large serrated gith sword wielded by the Lieutenants determined that it was a sword of wounding +2.  It had large spikes coming out of the hilt and the crossbars of the hilt.  Jace consulted his elemental and they both agreed that the gith might be able to track the swords through the spikes. 

The party wanted to sell the swords but were afraid the gith would attack Murray before he could make a successful sale.  Dante stated that there was someone that might be able to help.  There was a dwarven craftpriest in the Barony of Dor to the south east who might be able to remove them.

The party quickly travelled to Dor with Dante and spoke to the craftpriest.  He marveled at the craftsmenship and asked where they came from.  The party admitted they were gith swords and he agreed to remove the spikes from both of the swords for a fee of 5000 gp and an agreement that the party was to take the spikes and dispose of them immediately. He was able to do so and the weapons were taken to Murray in Adamas to sell.

Raiders Update (Late May through mid July)         

The Raiders were a couple of months behind in campaign time (son was away at college).  Dante had decided to adventure with the Village People.  That meant he was unavailable for any activity for a couple of months.  The players for Dante and Lazarus used the ‘dead time’ (in which they were ‘locked’ out of the dungeon and in which Dante wasn’t available) to use their XP bank to create new PCs (as henchman of their main characters).  Lazarus rolled up a barbarian, with the intent of taking him into Dwimmermount and converting him to a paladin.  Dante rolled up a Warlord.  (BTW all of my PCs have rolled VERY well on their 2nd PCs!). 

Lazarus also made liberal use of the commune spell.  They used it to determine if their new realm would be attacked during the building of the fortress (yes - 3 times over last 2 months), whether the Iron God was in Dwimmermount, etc. They hired some bards to travel through the realms of the Lanis river basin, spreading the word of the Raiders/Lords of Law.  Dante paid an investigator to find out whatever he could about any other paladins.  They also paid for the newly constructed church in Muntburg to be disassembled and rebuilt in the new realm. 

Isaac Stocker had been asking the Raiders to escort an expedition to Retep City to set up a shop in another Level II city.  This would increase the profits of both the moon pool operation and the new azoth operation.   Dante played the Warlord and Odysseus.  Lazarus, Odysseus, Isaac, the mages, various henchmen and a group of light cavalry travelled escorted several wagons to Retep City.  They managed to make it unscathed (luckily avoiding any of the bandits and only facing giant flies). 

They spent a week in Retep City.  That was long enough for Issac to set up a shop with his henchman Abe Vroman.  Retep City is known for quality horses.  Odysseus managed to find and purchase a very valuable heavy warhorse – “Goliath”, a horse with amazing strength, constitution, and speed.  Lazarus also found and purchased a warhorse with the speed of a riding horse, “Mercury”, with notable strength and constitution as well.   They made it back to the realm without any problems.