# Rise Of The Snakemen [Forgotten Realms]



## Brakkart

The following is a handout I gave to each player before character creation:

*Rise of the Snakemen​A Forgotten Realms Campaign​*
*Dungeon Master:* Robert "Bob" Langford

*Allowed Book List:*

Characters can be created/updated using anything from the following books. The DM reserves the right to amend or remove anything that in his opinion endangers game balance.

3.5 Players Handbook
3.5 Dungeon Masters Guide
3.5 Monster Manual
Monster Manual II
Monster Manual III (out Sept 2004)
Fiend Folio
Complete Warrior
Complete Divine
Complete Arcane (out Nov 2004)
Complete Adventurer (out Jan 2005)
Official Wizards of the Coast errata

All 3.0 & 3.5 Forgotten Realms books (including Campaign Setting, Players Guide to Faerun, Faiths and Pantheons, Races of Faerun, Magic of Faerun, Lords of Darkness, Serpent Kingdoms, Underdark, Unapproachable East, Silver Marches & Monsters of Faerun)

In addition the DM shall be making use of Dragon & Dungeon magazines. If you wish to use anything that is not included in one of the above sources, I will consider it on a case by case basis. In all cases, if you wish to use something from a source, you (or someone else in the group) must have a copy of that source at the gaming table each week. If the book isn't there, neither is your characters ability to use whatever feat/item/class/etc taken from that source.

*Starting Characters:*

Characters begin the campaign with 3000 xp (3rd level if using a standard race), with 2700gp to spend (plus the bonus equipment for their region: see Players Guide to Faerun).

*Character Background/Logs:*

A one off reward of 400xp (plus 200xp extra for each level beyond 1st, so 800xp for a 3rd level character for example) will be awarded to each character that has a written background story/history. This should be at least an A4 side in length, and contain the following:

·	Origin (parents, homeland, etc)
·	Fears
·	Any enemies made
·	Personality Traits (ie, why the character is the way he/she is)
·	Known relatives & their status/location
·	Any allies/friends/contacts

Any player that wishes to write an in-character log/journal/diary will be rewarded 50xp/character level per session detailed. Given that I wrote a long and quite detailed journal for the last campaign I played in, my standards are quite high for this award.

*Character Death/Retirement:*

Inevitably some characters will die. Assuming the character is not brought back to life (and the player wishes to continue with a new character in the campaign), then they will start play with a new character 1 level lower than the one at which they perished. the new characters xp total will be 50% of the way to the next level. XP earned in a battle by a character who perishes in that fight, will pass to the next character created by that player (so they will start with more than the 50%).

If you wish to retire your character and create a new one, the new character will start play 1 xp short of the level the character retired at. This is a minor rebuke for retiring a character, as frankly I feel that it hurts the narrative. Characters that are retired gain no XP in the interim, so should a player ever wish to unretire such a chracter, they will re-enter play exactly as they left (they did after all choose to go and take a rest, that is exactly what they will have done).

*New Characters:*

Characters created after the start of the campaign receive 75% of the starting funds allocated to them (as shown on page 135 of the DMG), unless they choose to enter play as a prisoner, in which case they get the full 100% to spend, but their equipment is currently not in their possession.

Characters cannot spend more than 30% of their funds at character creation on any one item. A spellbook is the only exception to this rule.


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## Brakkart

*The Adventuring Party*

Party:

Player		Character Name	Align	Race		Class/Levels

*Mark*		Noob Saibot		CG	Human		Ranger2/Rogue1
*Alastair*		Gylippus		CN	Human		Rogue2/Wizard1
*Gareth*		Zamtap			N	Human		Cleric3 (Gond)
*Dan*		Elena Morningstal	CG	Human		Fighter2/Cleric1 (Valkur)
*Phillip*		Aeron Greycastle	NG	Air Genasi	Wizard2
*Tony*		Ki Tendragion		LN	Human		Rogue1/Monk2

I decided to start the campaign at 3rd level as I wanted to get the group into conflict with the Yuan-ti (some of the main villains of the overall storyline) fairly soon. Plus it gives the players a lot more options right from the start to get an interesting character to play. I've got nothing against 1st level starts, just didn't feel it would work in this case.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session One*

Party arrives in Baldur's Gate on the 23rd Eleint 1372DR, having worked as mercenary guards for the Seven Seas Trading Coster for the past couple tendays, whilst guarding a caravan from Athkatla. They were hired as there have been several raids on caravans carrying gemstones, and whilst theirs was not carrying anything of great value like that, the Coster did not want to get hit anyway, so took on extra protection to be "better safe than sorry".

On arrival they were paid the remainder of their retainer and offered future employment as guards, but the group turned this down, in favour of seeing what the city had to offer by way of employment. Waiting at the entrance to the Costers compound was a portly well dressed man who stopped them as they left and introduced himself as Morn Buckman, of Buckman, Brintle & Mite, a company that Aeron recognised by name as dealing in spell components.

Taking the party to the back room of the nearby Leaping Leprechaun Inn, he paid for a round of drinks and a platter of food to be brought in and then got down to business. He stated that he wished to employ the party as guards for his warehouse in the city, which was the heart of his operation in the Sword Coast being as Baldur's Gate is in the middle of the coastline, and thus a useful nexus for his stores in Waterdeep, Scornubel, Baldur's Gate and Athkatla ("with another store opening soon in Neverwinter, and in Irieabor also, just as soon as they build the damn road"). He explained that he has suffered a run of strange thefts from his warehouse, of various goods (venoms, herbs, spices, powdered metals, but mostly amniotic fluid "some barrels of the stuff, not expensive at all, just time consuming to replace").

He stated that he had hired a sorceress by the name of Rowan Mostana ("comes highly reccomended, spared no expense"), to set up a series of proper warding spells, only she had yet to turn up as she was travelling overland from Irieabor. He offered to pay the party 100gp each per tenday to guard the warehouse at night until she arrived. He also mentioned that while he had suffered a rash of thefts from the warehouse, the thieves had been very meticulous in their burglaries and had never broken in, nor had they made a mess in taking what they wanted.

The party agreed to his offer, and he left to attend to business (including adding the PC's names to the company payroll roster, and he suggested that they come up with a name for their group, for convinience sake). The party paid for rooms at the Inn (1gp a night, which includes a cooked breakfast), and while most of them took the time until sundown (when they were due at the warehouse) to rest, Gylippus & Noob went and checked out the warehouse from the street (157 Reaching Way was the address they had been given, in the north part of the city).

The warehouse turned out to be a 60'x80' converted two-storey barn, with a street to the front, and a narrow trash and rat filled alleyway at the rear, with other buildings along both sides. The only entrance being the double doors that opened onto Reaching Way itself. The only windows into the building were on the upper floor. Satisifed with thier assessment of the place, they rejoined the rest of the group and then waited till sundown.

The party were met at the warehouse as they arrived for their shift on guard duty by James, a clerk employed by Buckman, Brintle & Mite to oversee the running of the warehouse inventory. He answered what questions they had about the building, adding that there was a small unused cellar ("too damp and cold to keep anything down there, and it always smells bad") as well as the two floors. He handed them the keys and then left, as he had no wish to get involved in any fracas, as while he carried a dagger, he really had no idea in how to use it, other than he was assuared that "the pointed end goes into the other person somehow". Before leaving, he emplored the PC's to be careful, as "many things in here do not react well to fire!". Aeron and Gylippus assured him that neither of them were packing fire magics.

The group immediately set about exploring every inch of the warehouse, checking every external surface on every floor for hidden entranceways, finding none. When they were eventually satisfied that the only egress into the building was indeed the front doors, they set themselves up in ambush positions around the one item that they knew the thieves would make for, the three barrels of amniotic fluid on the upper floor. They went as far as to push these into the middle of the floor, and then arrange themselves around them, hidden amongst the crates (Ki, Aeron, Gylippus) and in the rafters above it (Elena, Noob). To keep an eye out on both floors, Zamtap positioned himself in the middle of the stairs. The group killed the lamps on the ground floor, and left the upper floor briefly lit, to leave the place with the impression that only the usual security guard was present (who according to James, usually spent the night asleep as nothing ever happened).

The group waited for hours, with Elena eventually growing bored and dropping down out of the roofing to play cards with herself atop the barrels. It was in the early morning that Zamtap suddenly noticed that the front doors of the warehouse were open. This realisation was followed scant seconds later by arrows thudding off his armour, alerting him (and everyone else except Elena) that they were under attack! Three salvos of arrows were fired at the cleric, silhouetted as he was, standing on the stairwell with the light from above behind him, before one struck home and pierced his defences. By now the others had arranged themselves around the top of the stairs in hiding (even Elena who finally noticed something was amiss as her comrades began spellcasting, and reluctantly put her cards away), and Zamtap backed up the stairs to join them, followed by his unseen, unheard assailants.

As the theives reached the top of the stairs, one spotted the lurking form of Gylippus and charged into him, greviously wounding the surprised wizard. whilst the other was quickly subdued by a well timed sleep spell from Aeron. Ki and Elena joined battle with Gylippus' attacker, the former scoring a hit, whilst the lady pirates arrow clattered off her allies mage armor. Realising that he was horribly outnumbered, the thief turned to run, Gylippus slashing him badly as he did, and he stumbled towards the stairs, screaming out to "Go, get out of here!!", before being abrubtly silenced by a bullet from Zamtap's pistol blowing his brains out. His body fell down a few stairs and lay there sprawled, blood pouring from the wound to make the stairs slippery...

...As Noob found out when he jumped down from his perch in the rafters and attempted to tumble down them, ending up in a bruised heap at the foot of the flight, the sound of a horse and cart escaping at speed reaching him from the street outside. Both he and Gylippus (who had run to a front window upstairs) saw the third thief make a get away with an empty cart.

The group then turned their attention to their prisoner, with Ki and Aeron securing him in ropes and then waking him up. However despite Gylippus' attempts at "persuasion" he remained un-cooperative, simply stating that he was a dead man for failing in his mission, and so the partys threats were wasted on him. The group locked him (along with the dead thief) in the cellar for the night and then turned both over to James and Morn when they arrived in the morning. They did find (whilst looting the pair), a strange tattoo on each of them, that of a sabre-toothed snakes head. None of them knew what it meant, but Morn Buckman asked if they would take the matter to an associate of his, a sage who lived down by the docks ("blue house on the street behind the Bitch Queen's chapel, can't miss it") by the name of Tanthar.

The group however, wanted sleep, so they adjourned back to the Leaping Leprechaun, ate breakfast, prayed/read for spells, and went to bed. All except Aeron, who then went on to the docks to consult with the sage, finding the house to be home to a very cantankerous halfling who agreed to look into the matter, stating that "it'll take me some days to find anything, so come back tomorrow". That done, Aeron returned to the Inn and went to sleep himself.

*DM Notes:*

Not a bad start, though the encounter with the thieves was a little under powered. Still one did manage to get away (mostly due to some bad rolls on listen checks by Zamtap when the thieves arrived, he didn't hear the sounds of a horse and cart pulling up in the street outside and was the only character near enough to the front doors to have a chance at hearing such). Might need to adust the money a little bit, in retrospect 100gp each per tenday is a bit high. Still it did prove to be too tempting to resist, and it's not like the party are going to be employed there for that long anyway!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Two*

The party awoke in the mid afternoon of the 24th Eleint and the whole group trooped downstairs and paid for the evening meal that was cooking in the Leaping Leprechaun Inn (Roast boar with all the trimmings, served with dark ale). Since they had already done their spell memorising before going to bed in the morning, they decided to take it easy and relax in the Inn for the afternoon until they had to go to the warehouse for their evening shift.

All that is apart from Elena who took it upon herself to head to the warehouse and walk into the building opposite it, which turned out to be a warehouse run entirely by dwarves. Considering she went there to get permission to camp out on the buildings roof that night, things could have gone better. Mentioning that she wished to be up there to guard Buckman's warehouse did not go down too well, as the foreman was no great lover of wizards. Trying to appeal to his sense of security by mentioning that there were theives operating in the area, merely got two of the dwarf labourers ordered to pull night shift to guard that warehouse. Still, by fate or fluke, she got her placement on the rooftop for one night only.

She also stopped in at Buckman's warehouse, receiving a list of the types of goods stolen and rough quantities from James, as Aeron had requested such from Buckman yesterday. Taking this back to the Inn, the group pored over the list of components, but could come to no real conclusions as to what the theives were up to.

Sundown came around quickly and the group made their way to the warehouse and took up positions around the building (with Elena on the roof across the street, well until it rained anyway), expecting a return visit from the burglars, and most likely in greater numbers than the previous night. They waited... and waited... and waited... and dawn of the 25th Eleint came around without incident, much to their annoyance and James delight when he arrived first thing to start the days work. The group had to let him down in that they were pretty certain that they had not "scared the thieves off".

The party trekked back across town to their Inn, arriving just in time for breakfast (Grilled Sausages & Mushrooms with lots of buttered bread). None of them had to memorise any spells, having expended none during the course of the night so they all went to bed. On waking up, while the others relaxed, Aeron and Elena paid a visit to Tanthar's house to see if the old sage had come up with anything.

From him they learned that the sabre-toothed snake head is a common symbol associated with the worshippers of Sseth, a vile snake god. The particular version of the symbol he said was commonly used by a group of human cultists who serve the Yuan-ti known as The Viper's Fangs. He also let on that he had been asked to look into the matter of the tattoo's meaning by an officer of the Flaming Fist (the mercenary company that serves as Baldur's Gate's army & city watch). He told them to tell Buckman that "all debts owed were clear now" as he had told the officer a load of rubbish and sent him off on a wild goose chase. He assumes when the officer figures this out, his services will not be called upon in future, costing him a good client. As to what the debt he owed Buckman was, no mention was made.

Needless to say this news did not please the rest of the group. To battle thieves is one thing, quite another to battle snake cultists, who won't surrender, won't talk and cannot be bribed or reasoned with. Talk on this occupied the group until it was time to take up guard duty again. Again their vigilance was rewarded with an uneventful evening. By now the group was divided with some thinking that perhaps they had missed a clue and the thieves were expecting them to follow them, and the others confident that when they returned they would do so in force.

Buckman arrived to open the warehouse on the 26th Eleint, as it was James' day off. He was delighted to find that the party's presence had acted as a successful deterent for two whole nights, though troubled when the group told him who was behind the thefts thus far. Considering their efforts to unravel the mystery thus far, Buckman was only too willing to pay the party half their weeks wages a day in advance, writing out a credit note and telling the group to take it to his store in the city to be reimbursed.

The party again headed back to the Inn for breakfast, and sleep. In the afternoon they went and paid a vist to Buckman, Brintle & Mite's large alchemical supply store in the city, and found it to be a bit gaudy for their tastes, but well stocked (on most things anyway), getting their pay whilst they were there.

Evening rolled around again soon enough and the group headed back to the warehouse. Their vigilance was to be tested this night though, as around midnight a force of six Viper's Fangs cultists assaulted the building. A fierce battle broke out with almost everyone involved (strangely there was no sign of Gylippus). A sleep spell from the Fang Sorceror dropped Noob almost immediately, but Aeron retaliated with spells of his own, stunning several of the intruders and then sleeping one a little later. Elena conjured a monkey to little effect and then waded into a furious melee with one of the Fang Soldiers, a rude brute clad in scalemail and hefting a longsword and shield. The pirate lady and the cultist battled one another down an aisle between shelving, smashing items left and right as well as each other.

Ki took his time, creeping into position, but when he struck he did so with deadly effect, slaughtering a Fang Thug in one vicious thrust. Zamtap and Aeron traded spells and missile fire with the cultist sorceror and the pair of other cultists who stuck close to him. The pair fired down from the upper floor through the cargo doors in the middle of the ceiling, using the same doors for cover from below. Still, they were having limited success, so Zamtap drew his pistol, took aim and blasted a hole clean through the sorcerors head!

That rattled the remaining cultists nerves and they broke, running for the door and the waggon they had brought with them. While one of the thugs made it and made his getaway, the soldier who tried, had the misfortune to step on the line of caltrops Elena had placed across the doorway earlier and injure his feet too badly to catch up to the moving waggon as it rolled down the street. He turned and resolved to sell his life dearly, charging into the awakened Noob. He was quickly surrounded by Elena and Ki and cut down.

That left merely the one left sleeping at the foot of the stairs who the party bound and tossed into the cellar with the bodies of his fellow thieves (after looting them of anything of worth). Whilst emptying the cultists pockets, Noob came across a piece of parchment with a "shopping list" of what was to be taken, as well as a note stating that the guards were to be killed for their previous actions, in thwarting the plans of the vrael olo. The note was on paper that bore a strange watermark.

*DM's Notes:*

Two for two, another good session, the players started to get more into their characters, and all appear to be having a good time playing. The evenings play was only marred by the unexplained absence of Alastair, which meant I had to reduce the number of thieves for the battle. Still considering that campaigns I write myself tend to suck, thus far I have had nothing but compliments on my running of this campaign.


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## Brakkart

*Player Handouts*

The following are a pair of handouts I have made up thus far (using MS Wordpad, and the Script font to make the writing look like that of a quill pen). The first is the "shopping list" scroll the PC's found on the body of the Fang Sorceror. It had a watermark on it, of a symbol (created by drawing the symbol on the back of the piece of paper and showing them the front, so it could be faintly seen through).

*Handout One:*

Our masters, the vrael olo desire the following items:

Amniotic Fluid
Powdered Iron
Any varieties of venom/poison present

Also see to the guards. Death is the price they must pay for trying to thwart the will of our masters. If Buckman is present, do not harm him. The deaths of some adventurer types will not be mourned, but the loss of a prominent businessman will draw too much unwanted attention.


This second handout (which the PC's actually got first, just to be nice and confusing  ), is the list of items and quantities stolen that Aeron asked Buckman to provide.

*Handout Two:*

Items known to have been stolen from Buckman, Brintle & Mite
warehouse:

Amniotic Fluid (many barrels worth, estimate at least 20)
Powdered Metals (large amounts taken, several crates worth. Mostly zinc and iron. Oddly no lead taken, usually a favourite of alchemists)
Liquid Metal (otherwise known as Mercury, or Quicksilver. Our entire stocks of this rare substance have been taken)
Venoms (both liquid and in powdered form, every variety has had at least some stock taken)
Herbs (Very little taken)
Spices (Very little taken)
Plant Extracts (again, mostly the poisonous varieties. Not much taken, but some of every type we stock has been looted)


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## Frozenface

Well, this certainly looks interesting. The yuan-ti are one of my favorite villianous races! And what you have so far is extremely well-written. I'm looking forward to the continuation of this story.


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## Ryltar

Ditto. I'm with this. Great writing so far.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Three*

Dawn of the 27th Eleint saw James arrive at the warehouse to open up for the day, to be greeted by the smiling faces of the victorious group, and several large bloodstains on the floor of the building. The party informed him of what was in the cellar and he said that the bodies and captured cultist would be turned over to the first Flaming Fist patrol that passed by.

This caught the attention of Jebodiah, a dwarf guard employed at the warehouse across the street, and he wandered over to inquire as to what was going on. Filling him in on the situation, he nodded, saw that things seemed to be well in hand and headed back across the road, where he too was relieved of night duty by the arriving foreman. As coincidence would have it, he also had a room at the Leaping Leprechaun (simply because they didn't water their beer), and so he tagged along with the rest of the group as they bid James a good day and headed back to their Inn for breakfast and sleep.

In the afternoon they pondered over taking the note with the watermark to Tanthar, but remembering that he considered his debt to Buckman paid, they recoiled at the idea of how much a sage might cost to hire. Elena having struck up a camaraderie of sorts with the dwarf, convinced the rest of the group that they could use someone like him along, and the others agreed.

The pirate and the barbarian headed to Buckman's store, and were let up into his office upstairs, where Elena asked for him to add Jebodiah to the payroll. Buckman was a little hesitant as he rightly pointed out that thus far the group had easily handled the burglars. Elena retorted that the last time they had come with double the original numbers, and that should this pattern continue, the party would be completely overwhelmed. That swayed the merchant and he agreed to add a 7th member of the group to the payroll, starting on a half weeks pay as the tenday was halfway through already.

Noob, unbeknownst to Elena and Jebodiah had followed them, to see if they were being stalked, and was sure that he saw someone tailing the pair, but lost them before he could follow them. On returning to the Inn, he advised that no member of the group was to travel alone from now on.

That done, the group headed back to the warehouse in the evening for another nights watch duty. Jebodiah stopping in at his old employers to resign his commission there. The groups vigilance though was not to be tested this night, and come morning of the 28th Eleint, they packed up the dummy, caltrops and other sundry defences they had put in place, before James arrived to open up.

After breakfast and sleep, Elena and Jebodiah headed out to have a few drinks around town, Noob decided to trail them to see if they were being followed, and Aeron and Zamtap took the note and headed to Buckman's office.

The pair were indeed being followed, but after a while, their tail headed off, closely followed by Noob at his stealthy best... but not quite good enough, as he found out after rounding a corner, as the cultist flew out of a doorway at him. Unfazed by this sudden attack, Noob calmly battled the Fang assassin, hurling weapon after weapon at him, darts, shortswords, the works, whilst dodging the majority of the stabs aimed at him, finally felling the thug. He then made himself scarce, hearing from the next street, the sound of a Flaming Fist patrol approaching.

Aeron and Zamtap had better luck though, as Buckman was easily able to identify the watermark as that of Broca House, a trading coster that dealt in rare woods from the Tashalar region, mostly mahogany. He was baffled as to why a lumber company would be stealing from him though, until Aeron pointed out that the Tashalar region was known for its Yuan-ti infested jungles. Buckman was duly worried about sending the party to infiltrate the Broca compound however, as if it were to get out that his employees had broken into another coster's property, it could trigger a trade war, or rioting, both of which were bad for business.

Aeron suggested publically firing the group to cover up his involvement in the matter, whilst still keeping them in his employ, as they continued the investigation beyond their simple guard duty. Buckman agreed to do such the next morning, and they left his office, heading back to the others at the Inn to brief them on the new information.

After another uneventful nights watch, the group were met at the warehouse by Buckman who (loudly) proclaimed that thier services were no longer required, as his wizardess, Rowena Mostana had arrived in the city late last night, and would today be placing the wards on his building that would annihilate anyone setting foot in it after dark. He handed the party their severance pay and bade them goodbye. The group trooped off back to their Inn, and walked inside to be met by nearly a dozen Viper's Fangs in an ambush.

Before the group had even made its way fully into the building, half their number still in the street outside, they were in pitched battle as armour-clad fighters and nimble thugs tried to prevent the others from forcing their way in, while they worked to slaughter those already inside the building.

Jebodiah was having none of this, and spotting who was giving the orders, a mighty rage came upon him and he hurlked himself forward, cutting a swathe through the enemy ranks to reach the cleric of Sseth at their rear. Zamtap too made his way further into the building, but after being severely injured, running across the taproom to put some distance between himself and the cultists swords, while he healed his wounds, closely pursued by a scalemail clad Fang soldier.

Elena was not so lucky, being hit by the Hold Person straight away, and remaining as still as a statue, while a cultist cut at her with his sword, and magic missiles slammed into her also. Outside, Noob ran down the street, aiming to get into the Inn via the backdoor through the stable yard and catch the cultists in the flank. Gylippus and Ki battled in the doorway, pushing to get inside, even as across the room, Jebodiah was surrounded by foes...

*DM's Notes:*

Well the best laid plans and all that... I had plotted this session, to go roughly more as "party take note to Buckman, find out about Broca House, launch attack on the House". To this end I had spent more than 4 hours putting together a map and stats for Broca House and its occupants. Ohh well, hardly time wasted, as after all, they will be doing that next week. I threw in the fight at the end, mainly as Dan and Matt, sat down the end of the table looked a little bored. As I later found out Dan was in pain from a bad back, and Matt is a near total newbie to D&D, so was a little confused as to the goings on. Both have reassured me since that they were anything but bored, which is a relief. A shame the session had to end before the fight was concluded (the Games Club we play at closes at 9:30pm), but will mean an all action session next week, with concluding this battle and raiding the Coster.

Added a 7th player this week, a friend of Dan and I from work by the name of Matt. A relative newbie to the hobby, I felt obliged to add some new blood to the group, as I personally feel that teaching new people to play the game is the responsibility of every D&D group. Phillip being the last such addition to our group a few years back. His character is:

*Matt*		Jebodiah Bugman	CG	Dwarf		Barbarian3


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Four*

...with a thrust of sheer willpower, Elena finally broke the enchantments hold on her and glared menacingly at the cultist who had been gleefully stabbing her. The Fang cleric hurled spells at the dwarven psychopath before him, to little effect, and he gradually backed away, healing himself and then drawing a wand. Zamtap battled a soldier fiercely in one corner of the Inn's taproom, but while his foe landed blow after blow on the hapless priest, he rarely got a stike in against him in return.

Ki and Gylippus were having better luck, working together to flank and then cut apart the cultists, even as a thug stood off to one side, did his best to pepper Gylippus with arrows. Aeron, stood out in the street but with a good view of the proceedings, heaped misery onto the cultist wizard behind the bar, with spells harrying his opposite numbers effectiveness, to the point that spellcasting became pointless, and the much maligned wizard drew a wand and started blasting.

With the soldier guarding the cleric from his wrath, put to sleep by a timely intervention from Aeron, Jebodiah was freed to focus his attention on the leader of their ambushers, growling curses as he hacked at him, being blasted by magic missiles from the priests wand in return. Having finished her tormentor off, Elena rushed across the room to add her sword to the fight, but the dwarf's groans of pain mingled with his battle cries, showed her where her talents would be best applied, and she worked to keep the groups barbarian upright.

The last Fang soldier finally broke Zamtap's resolve, and the Gondsman fled across the bar, freeing the armoured tough to aid his commander, he wading into the melee in support of the cleric, attacking Elena. Seeing the danger, Gylippus and Ki ran across to help deal with him, the pair having seen that the dwarf was taking the cleric as a very personal foe by now, the villain having healed himself twice, denying the barbarian his victory.

A blast echoed across the room as Zamtap fired off his pistol at the cleric though, missing him narrowly because of the cover given by the bar he had retreated behind. As if in mockery of how it should be done, Aeron calmly strolled in through the door, loaded and aimed his crossbow and killed the wizard effortlessly. In a last futile act of savagery the cleric blasted his wand into Gylippus dropping him to the floor as he snarled "At least I'll claim one of you for Sseth!". Seconds later, he was dead, cut down by Jebodiah's axe, the dwarf grinning broadly even as the strength of his anger faded from him and he collapsed atop his beaten enemy. The Fang cleric never got to see Aeron and Elena save the one member of the party that the Fangs had managed to put down.

At that the landlord poured the group a complimentary round of drinks for being the victors, along with telling them in no uncertain terms to get their things and get out. They took their bags from their rooms, and had just finished looting the nine corpses, when the door banged open to admit a large man in armour, a red tabard and a black helm with red stripes on, an officer of the Flaming Fist, and in a furious mood too, as Gylippus found out when he tried some backchat.

Summing the groups recent activities up as a danger to the peace, he gave the group two days to leave Baldur's Gate, or they would be found and very publically dealt with. With that warning ringing in their ears, the group headed out of the Leaping Leprechaun and as word quickly spread across the city of their battle in the bar, they found themselves turned away from Inn after Inn, none keen to have a repeat fight break out on their premises (and the consequent loss of business incurred during the clean-up afterward). Finally they were able to rent rooms at a small tavern down by the docks, not affiliated to the brewers guilds, called the Blushing Mermaid.

There, they rested, healed up, divided up their hard fought for loot (after Gylippus had sold off some of the non-monetary items), ate and discussed what to do next, with the two day deadline looming over them in which to get the evidence of Broca House's complicity in the thefts.

*DM's Notes:*

Memo to self: Fights can take a while, but when they go as well as this one did, they sure are a LOT of fun!!

So Broca House remains unraided, and yet the plot advances nicely and in ways I had not foreseen when plotting this section of the campaign out initially. The deadline makes things interesting for the players, creating a real sense of urgency. I actually got to use the Flaming Fist rather than just having them as background colour this week. As you might have noticed, no mention was made of Noob, as Mark did not turn up to the session this week, no idea why at the time of writing. Dished out XP for the fight and also to Gareth for turning in Zamtap's history, which allowed him to reach level 4 ahead of the others (I'll post it just as soon as I've gone through it and removed the typo's). I've decided not to bother with the 5 day training thing, I just feel it will hinder the storyline more than add to it after some serious thinking on it.


----------



## Eccles

Not killed anyone yet?  You're slacking, mate.

Best to all down there.


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## Brakkart

Eccles said:
			
		

> Not killed anyone yet?  You're slacking, mate.
> 
> Best to all down there.




C'mon mate, you should know that it is far more satisfying to let the players become attached to their characters, and then kill them!!

Just kidding, if they die, they die, I'm not going to make any special effort to slaughter them though, but if they make mistakes, I'll make sure they pay for them.

Hope you are doing well in Southhampton, see you at Gen Con mate.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Five*

After one hell of a hectic morning, the group decided to rest at their new Inn, as they reasoned that investigating (breaking and entering), Broca House's compound would be a lot easier after nightfall. All that is except Aeron, who headed out to purchase some scrolls of Mage Armor, so that he might omit that particular spell from his day's selection in favour of more offensive magics.

On waking and eating, Zamtap announced that he would not be joining them, excusing himself to attend the High House of Gond in the city, for some festival or other. He told the group that he would meet up with them in a couple days time at Kelvin's Thorp, a village a day or so's travel along the Trade Way between Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep.

Bereft of their primary cleric, the group nevertheless decided to go ahead with their mission, and set off through the streets drawing little to no attention at that time of the evening, the streets filled with the throng of thirsty Gate's folk seeking one tavern or another. Reaching Balduran Avenue, they ducked into the shadowy cover of an alleyway, and observed their target, the large walled headquarters of Broca House across the road. Surrounded by a 10' high brick wall, topped with imbedded shards of glass and nails, with a three storey building visible beyond, and a couple other rooftops as well, plus clearly seen lighting in the yard, it was a daunting prospect.

Undeterred though, and following Gylippus's strategy, the group decided to wait out the rest of the evening, and spy the joint. Aeron took the opportunity to walk around the block, and check out the back side of the compound, to find that the rear faced onto The Circle, a circular road surrounding the Ducal Palace itself. He duly reported back to the group that stealth was of the utmost concern, as any undue noise or flashes and they would be up to their necks in Flaming Fist guards before they knew what  had hit them. The others had also noted that a patrol of the Fist went down Balduran Avenue every 15-20 minutes, leaving them with a narrow window of opportunity in which to get over the wall.

Their reconnaissance done, the party waited until 1am to make their move, the streets having cleared of revellers by then, as well as most of the lights in the compound itself having been turned off. Darting from their hiding place, they crossed the broad expanse of Balduran Avenue and Ki made an attempt to hurl a grappling hook up to the top of the wall. Alas, his attempt was pititful and shaking his head in disbelief, Aeron simply grabbed the hook from his hands, and levitated to the top of the wall, using the ability given him by his genasi heritage. Placing a bundle of the cloaks the group had taken from their assailants in the Inn that morning over the spikes on the wall, they all clambered up the rope and dropped quietly into the yard on the other side, removing the cloaks and hook in the process, so as to leave nothing visible from the street as to their unlawful entry into the premises.

Sneaking about, they quickly assessed the layout of the place, noting only three guards outside. While Noob headed off after one, Aeron and Gylippus decided to bring the others low via Sleep spells. Unfortunately, while Aeron's spell worked perfectly, the humans mastery of the arcane arts was somewhat lacking, and his had no effect on the guard he had targetted, who upon noticing his companion slump to the ground, called out an alarm.

Deciding that haste was of the utmost importance now, the group surged towards him, Jebodiah at the forefront, as missiles fired by Elena and Ki bounced off the guards shield and the wall behind him. Noob meanwhile, used several parked waggons as cover, whilst peppering the other awake guard with arrows, but to little effect.

Charging into the guard, the dwarf swiftly laid him low, even as a doorway in the main building nearby opened, a series of guards bustling out, to be met by an onslaught of axe, swords and spells, three of them being put to sleep as Aeron worked his magics to great effect. Amazingly, the noise of battle did not bring the entire household running, and whilst they fought well, the guards were soon ovewhelmed. Gylippus ran to help out Noob as the guard he had been harrying, had finally spotted him and closed to melee. Between them they finished him off, even as the rest of the party did away with the sleeping guards.

Entering the main building of the compound, they investigated the room the guards had come from, finding little more than bunkbeds, and a table and chairs, the groups intrusion having disturbed a games of cards and dice. Scooping up the coinage on the table, they also dragged the bodies into the room and went through them for anything of value, Noob being extremely thorough in this. As he busied himself with the wealth, the rest peered in room after room on the ground floor of the building, putting a chair under the door handle of the servants quarters, and then taking the opportunity to butcher a half dozen men in their beds as they slept, after seeing the weapon belts and such in their bunkroom, and recognising them as more of the assassin type of Fang's that they had done battle with several times before.

They also found an office, and after searching through it, discovered one locked drawer. A quick Detect Magic from Gylippus determined that it radiated a faint abjuration aura. Figuring this to be an Alarm spell, the group conferred and decided on a fairly ruthless course of action. Reasoning that if they opened the drawer, it would call down the rest of the compound on them, they decided to wipe out the remainder of the household before doing so, so that none would be left alive to answer the alarm.

With this in mind, they headed to the stairs to the upper level, and with Elena and Jebodiah in the lead, headed up to the second level, and straight into two well armoured guards posted in the corridor. Rushing them, battle was joined in the corridor, as any pretense at stealth was thrown to the wind, with wands, arrows, axe and cutlass being brought to bear against these new defenders. The house guards were competent enough fighters, but against this sheer wave of attacks, were soon overmatched, even with the addition of a third defender to their ranks, as an archer joined them from out of a guest bedroom. With many doors facing them, the party continued to move through the house, intent on eradicating the threat posed by the Yuan'ti's minions entirely...

*DM's Notes:*

Well the group finally raided Broca House, and in style too. I will admit to being a bit caught off guard at their strategy. I had truthfully expected them to break in, battle a half dozen guards or so, find the office, yank out the drawer, grab the contents and leg it out of the compound post haste. The idea that they might seek to eliminate the entire stronghold before seeking to open the drawer had not crossed my mind. I will have to keep in mind in future this ruthless streak that my players possess. Still, I can't fault their tactics (and my dice rolling for Listen checks for the rest of the household sucked!!), so the group do well and truly have the drop on the cultists. Still I doubt Buckman will be too happy at their methods, even if they do return with incriminating evidence.


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## Fraggleonacid

Yeah, if the drawer hadn't been trapped, in ways that are hard for a group of our level to determine, then we might have gone for the cut and run.  Unfortunately the trap added to the locked gates would appear to make a quick getaway problematic; what if the drawer doesn't contain what we are looking for, but does contain the weekly wages?  We open the drawer, trigger the alarm and have to fight the entire compound all at once, with the likely bonus of involving the Flaming Fist, when all we have for 'evidence' is a handful of looted cash in our pockets; how would that look?  It just struck me, I can't speak for everyone else, that the way we went about it was more, rather than less, likely to ensure our survival and give us time to obtain our objectives.  It is also worth bearing in mind that the longer the rest of the town remains in the dark about what we've been up to, the better chance we have to make our getaway - especially if we find nothing (which, in character, we have to retain as a possibility).  The only way this will happen is if we bump off all the significant members of the Costa; which I will admit is a more than a bit ruthless.  Just as well Gylippus is CN really; what's everyone else's excuse...?


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Six*

Whilst the party paused and bickered for a minute on which door to try next, Noob joined them from the bottom of the stairs, as Elena took charge of guarding the escape route, and he immediately set about picking the lock, failing three times before Gylippus pointed out that searching for traps might be a handy idea. Stepping aside, Noob yielded the lock to his companion who promptly found and activated the trap, activating a mechanised wall scythe that sprang out and sliced the pair of them badly.

Fed up of this delay, Jebodiah expediated matters by putting his foot through the door, followed by the rest of him... straight into a volley of magic and missiles as arrows and spells slammed into the dwarf. Grimacing, he and the rest of the group gathered in the corridor outside looked into what could only be a temple to Sseth. A large square room draped with hangings adorned with snake motifs. With no windows, the chamber was lit by numerous oil burning braziers mounted on the walls. Facing them were a pair of soldiers and a thug of the type they had battled before. However, the temple had a mezzanine level at the rear, over the altar, reached by a set of stairs at the side, and standing up there was an archer and a half-plate clad guard, as well as the richly robed form of Janesh Broca himself.

Wasting no time in their assault, the group poured into the room, led by Ki and Jebodiah, the pair launching themselves into the unfortunate thug first, the man hardly having time to lay a blow before being brutally hacked down by a multitude of blows, as he was surrounded with Gylippus joining in the fray also. From the shattered doorway, Aeron grinned and engaged into a duel of sorts with Broca, each seeking to outdo the other. Whilst Janesh was able to haste his archer bodyguard, the benefit was delayed by an electric loop dropped on him and the archer both.

The guard stayed blocking the top of the stairs, using his bow to keep Aeron pinned down, and Broca drew a wand, and launched a fear effect at Gylippus, it taking hold of his mind and causing him to panic and flee the room. Seeing their attackers reduced in number, the soldiers advanced on Jeb and Ki, as Noob began a duel of his own, trading arrows with the now recovered archer, at least until he too was sent scurrying for the doorway by an enervation spell which drained away much of his ability.

The soldiers, though they fought well, were really no match for the monk and barbarian though, and were soon dispatched, though not before Ki had sustained grevious wounds from a sword blow and a shower of magic missiles from Broca's second wand. Outside in the corridor,  Gylippus fled past Aeron and down the stairs, passing Elena also, who headed up to see what was going on, while the rogue huddled in a corner and whimpered at terrors unseen to any but him. Momentarily distracted, Aeron was shot twice by the archer and collapsed in the doorway bleeding profusely.

Jebodiah then hurled himself up the staircase, snarling in battle rage as arrows and magic missiles alike slammed into him, and he threw himself into combat with the guard, shoving to try and get past him. Ki used an altogether nimbler approach and artfully dodged and rolled past the brute in half-plate to flank him, only to get viciously slashed by the archer who waded into melee to aid the guard. Deciding that survival was of the utmost concern, the monk duly ducked and rolled back past the guard, down the stairs and ran for the doorway, a badly wounded Noob following suit, as downstairs Gylippus snapped out of his fear induced trance and ran back towards the fight.

Alone in the temple, Jebodiah gritted his teeth and battled on, felling the guard and advancing to stand over his corpse to take on the archer in melee. Noob dragged Aeron out of the doorway, and then quaffed a potion. Leaving Aeron to the care of Elena, Noob drew his dagger and headed back into the room, shaming Ki into doing the same, neither willing to let the dwarf die alone. They were joined by Gylippus who ran in with them and the trio headed up the stairs even as Jebodiah slew the archer. Seeing his guards slain and his foes closing in on him, something snapped in Broca and fixing his claw bracer to one arm, he charged into Jeb, slashing at him and viciously wounding him, dropping the dwarf into a pool of blood, even as he was cut down by the remainder of the group as they surrounded him.

In the corridor Elena used the last of her magics to barely restore Aeron to the land of the living, while Noob poured a couple potions down Jeb's throat to bring the dwarf back from the brink of death. The group then set about looting the bodies of the slain cultists, finding a set of keys on Broca, that on testing, were found to unlock the drawer in the downstairs office without tripping the alarm. Grabbing a ledger and the letter stashed in the drawer, the group headed out into the streets, back towards their Inn.

*DM's Notes:*

Well that fight took a little longer than expected, using up the entire gaming session pretty much. Still the experience gained for the past couple weeks means the entire party are now 4th level (with some nearing 5th), and so they are roughly about where I want them level-wise for chapter 2 of the campaign (this raid was the end of chapter one). Next weeks session should be a lot less combat-intensive, and give the players more time to actually play their characters as oppossed to simply using their stats.

As you might notice, neither Zamtap or Elena really make any contribution this week, as Gareth and Dan were not present for the session, both having let me know this in advance thankfully. This made the fight very touch and go at some points, even after I reduced the amount of bad guys (removing the priest that would have been there also).


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## Brakkart

*Player Handout*

This is the letter that the party found in the alarmed drawer. Again I used the Script font for presentation when printing it out:

Broca Coster
13 Balduran Avenue
Baldur's Gate

To Janesh Broca
				Concerning the shipments to my laboratory at Wolfhill House, cease them at once. I have succeeded in completing phase one of our great enterprise, the results have been sent on to Serpentes via teleportation. Redirect your efforts at securing needed supplies towards Hlondeth. D will have need of as much fluid and the other ingredients as you can procure.

	I have not as yet packed up my laboratory, as I believe there are still advances and discoveries to be made in my research. Since I have scaled back (pardon the pun!), the scope of my research, I will no longer require such large quantities of goods, and my needs can be easily met by our agents in Waterdeep.

Esau Enoch
2nd Eleint 1372DR


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## Brakkart

*Zamtap's History*

Zamtap –born 19th Ches the year of the Behir on Lantan

Born the third son (of 5 children) to a craftsman, his parents were and are a craftsman and his wife, at home working in metal weather it be for simple amour, weapons or just decoration. The family worshiped at the main temple to Gond in the city, and Zamtap learned some of his father’s trade. His elder brothers did also and it seems the larger family business already of several generations (and thus lots of cousins and the like) may grow, His siblings are all married with children and so the family line is secure so he feels no sense of having to continue the family line, and thus has thrown himself into his work. Keeping in contact is only feasible through passing messages at the gatherings of Gond’s worshippers. The messages must travel via portal to Lantan. His father is still working and running the shop, and the family has pulled together.

The wider family has held a grudge against the shadow thieves since they forced the family (in the form of two Zamtap’s uncles and their young wives) out of Athkatla. It is unclear to the family why the thieves chose to drive them back to Lantan. The grand old man of the family a priest of Gond (the grand uncle of Zamtap’s father, who died of a heart attack shortly after Gond’s departure) determined via divination that the shadow thieves were in charge of the group demanding “protection”, a new concept to the foreign craftsmen and women. Fortunately the thieves didn’t fix the doors shut but felt they had made their point to the other upstanding businesses.

In the year of Shadows when he was 16 and coming up to chose his path in life, Gond came to live in the temple for a while. The presence of his god fired the young man to pursue the priesthood. He was accepted into the priesthood after the deity was restored to the heavens. He was allowed to study the scriptures of Gond and train him in craftsmanship at the High Holy Crafthouse of inspiration in memory of his great-grand-uncle. There he met many Techsmiths, and their Gondsmen. This became his goal to gain enough knowledge and experience to become one of these Techsmiths. He tends to have a delight for one of the wonder bringers gifts – smoke powder and would like to create it but hasn’t had the alchemical training to enable this. He carries a pistol  which he relies on the gifts of Gond to use.

Eventually earlier this year he was deemed to be good enough to be a traveling priest of Gond to gather knowledge wherever it lies, uncovering it by experimentation if necessary, but his brief is a watching and listening one. The balanced nature of the priesthood of Gond (as magic and technology are merely two ways to get things done), means he has been trained to keep on his feet mentally, and use both with equal ease. He has also been trained to use a hammer for more than metal working, and to use the defensive equipment that may come his way.

In the quiet of Ches, he left the island on a galleon, on this he was asked to heal one of the mercenaries on board. While talking with Zamtap the soldier of fortune suggested that if Zamtap wanted to travel he may as well be paid for it, thus he should get a job as a guard. After seeing how his funds were disappearing he asked if the man could pass a recommendation to potential employers. The mercenary duly passed on the recommendation, and Zamtap was hired in Calimport and due to the nature of being a caravan guard he has traveled but so far but only on the trade way, and only with small caravans. He has not the experience and reputation yet to get the bigger cross continent protection jobs and would like to see Tantras where two gods destroyed each other, and he has started to hear things about survivors of ancient Netheril being back with a flying city. In Athkatla, Zamtap signed on with 5 others as extra protection for a caravan belonging to guild merchants. They had their own guards but some rumor had them worried.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Seven*

Making their way back to the Inn, the party found it locked to them at 2am, and so snuck into the stables attached to it and crashed in a couple of empty stalls. Zamtap meanwhile concluded his part in a ceremony designed to dedicate a new mechanical clock intended for the cities main marketplace, and was offered a cloister room to spend the night in. Accepting, he gratefully slipped into the oblivion of sleep.

Everyone was woken only a few hours later, Zamtap for morning prayers, the others by the stableboy bursting in on them, and then promptly making his excuses seeing the amount of blood most of the group were covered in. They made use of the horse trough and scrubbing brushes to clean the worst of it off themselves, and gathered their things from their rooms, setting out then into the city. Noob and Gylippus went off to sell the various loot they had gathered during the night, Elena headed to the temples to buy a supply of potions, whilst Aeron, Ki and Jebodiah made a beeline for Buckman's store, to report their success to him.

Zamtap declined an offer to take part in any more of the dedication festival, as several more inventions were to be commended in the days that followed, saying that he had stayed in one place long enough and that as a travelling priest he should really be off to see more of the world. With the well wishes of the temple ringing in his ears, he headed back to the Blushing Mermaid to meet with the others (making only a short stop at the Temple of Mystra on the way to purchase a healing wand), only to find upon arrival that they had already left. After a quick conversation with the stableboy, he gathered that at least some of them had gone to talk to Buckman and he decided to head there also in the hope of catching up to them, somewhat alarmed by the boy's graphic description of how bloodied his comrades were.

Reaching Buckman's store as it was opening, the wizard, monk and barbarian were shown inside and up to their eastwhile employers office, whereupon they explained their activities of the previous evening and handed over the letter that they had recovered from Broca House. Buckman grew increasingly pale as they related the massacre of the cultists, and he dropped a bag of coins onto his desk, telling them it was payment for sorting out the theieves who had plagued his business. He then re-read the letter and growled, seeing the part about Waterdeep, and he asked the group where they were headed. Aeron replied that he did not know about the others, but that Waterdeep was his home and he intended to follow this trail to there.

Glad to hear it, Buckman asked the others to go and continue what they had started, he not wishing to start losing supplies from his Waterdeep store to fuel the Yuan-ti's plans. At that Zamtap arrived at the store and was sent upstairs to meet with the others, who brought him up to speed on what had transpired in his absence, along with some earnest pleas from Jebodiah for healing which the cleric duly granted, patching up the dwarf to the best of his ability.

Buckman being well connected informed the group that he had little fear of reprisals for the slaughter from the Flaming Fist, as afterall most of the wizards in the city he knew by first name, and wizards commanded much power and respect as many served in the citys defence force. He also told the group about Esau Enoch, a man wanted in most of the cities along the Sword Coast for unspeakable crimes as he fancied himself a scientist. Authorities had on numerous occassions discovered his grisly laboratories, but never the man himself.

Too he told them that Wolfhill House was a well known ruin, located in the Mere of Dead Men north of Waterdeep, and that it was supposedly haunted.

With that additional knowledge to ponder, the group bade him goodbye and they set out for Kelvin's Thorp, meeting Elena, Noob and Gylippus enroute to Kelvin's Thorp, the lady pirate complaining the whole way that they should have taken a ship. Reaching the village at just past nightfall, they opted for the first tavern they came too and staggered into The Greasy Ferret, each of them slapping down 1 silver for a bed in one of the two large bunkhouses and heading straight to bed. Well all apart from Zamtap, who made sure he had a few beers first.

Woken early the next morning by a bell clanging as one of the caravan masters awoke his men for an early start on the road, the group groaned and made their way into the tavern for breakfast, only to be informed that the tavern didn't serve it, as the vast bulk of their customers were from caravans that usually had a cook waggon with them. Muttering curses, the group split up with several of them knocking on villagers doors and offering them coin to join them for breakfast. Elena and Jebodiah had a different idea, and they joined the queue for cooked breakfast at a cook waggon and getting themselves a free breakfast of bacon and eggs as the cook had not yet had the time to memorise who was in his caravan, it only having left Baldur's Gate yesterday.

Walking over and joining them, Zamtap put forth the idea of hiring on with the caravan as guards and before the others really had time to discuss this he headed to the caravan master, a big man who having already donned his half-plate was pulling on a tabard... a yellow and black tabard, bearing a familiar looking Z insignia. Immediately wary, Zamtap succeeded only in annoying the man, before heading back to the others. He did not drop the idea of signing up with the caravan though,but Aeron was having none of it, and the rest of the group breathed a collective sigh of relief as the caravan moved on out of the village, leaving them behind.

At that, Noob decided to buy a horse, and the others, all flush with coin from the monies that Noob and Gylippus had divided out, followed suit. Heading to the large stables, each purchased a suitable mount, saddle and tack and as a group they set off, soon passing the Zhent traders and heading towards Waterdeep, many days ride away.

After four days of easy travel, things got more complicated a few hours after passing the spur in the road that led east towards Scornubel. A thundering noise approaching the road from the east alerted them, and the group spurred their mounts to a gallop, intending to outrace whatever it was that as yet remained unseen by the crest of a ridge. Unfortunately, while they were able to stay on a moving horse, neither Ki or Zamtap possessed any real skill at horsemanship and their mounts steadfastly refused to speed up. Just then the source of the noise burst over the crest, a large pack of scaled draconic centaurs, led by a brute with a battleaxe who upon seeing the group snarled out "Thats the ones we are looking for, kill them all!!". With that the Dracotaurs roared and thundered down the slope towards the two groups.

With no time to waste, the groups dismounted and sent their mounts packing, as they took up defensive positions, those that had ridden ahead racing to try and make it back to the stragglers before the Dracotaurs reached them and overwhelmed them. Taking it upon himself to draw the attention of the uncoming creatures, Jebodiah snarled and ran straight for them. As Gylippus and Noob drew the attention of a couple of the approaching beasts on one flank, so the other six , including the chieftain charged into the others, the chief giving into his battle rage as he slammed into the dwarf, battleaxe tearing a gaping wound in the small barbarian. With two Dracotaurs bearing down on her, Elena grinned as Aeron empowered her with a bulls strength and she leapt at her opponents, dancing amongst them, their attacks meeting thin air again and again, as her cutlass slashed here and there, swashbuckling at it's finest.

As Ki and Jeb battled without much success, one of the creatures that had been been going for Noob and Gylippus, spotted Aeron spellcasting and ran around the outside of the battle to get at him. Seeing the creature thunder towards him, the air genasi grinned and sailed skywards, his natural ability to levitate serving him well and putting him beyond the creatures reach... or so he thought until a ball of fire was spat up at him, narrowly missing him, even as he shouted out "They can breathe fire!!" to warn the others of the new development.

Gylippus and Noob meanwhile were fighting a guerilla style battle away from the others, having drawn off one Dracotaur from the pack, harrying the creature with arrows, making use of some trees to keep it from charging them. Proving successful they soon felled the creature and moved to help out the others, even as Elena's luck finally ran out and after felling one of the Dracotaurs that she was battling, the second landed a series of blows on her. Still, she remained standing and with a nimble step, moved in and finished off her second opponent.

Aeron had been only momentarily distracted by the Dracotaur underneath him hurling a spear up and through his left leg, and he gritted his teeth as he dropped Gedlee's electric loops onto his foes, stunning them. With his opponent finally vulnerable, Ki eviscerated one Dracotaur, freeing himself and Zamtap to rush to the aid of Jeb, who was standing fuelled solely by sheer force of anger by now. As Ki drew the attention of the chieftain, the cleric did his best to patch up the dwarf, even as the remaining Dracotaurs encircled them. Things looked bleak for the trio, as their companions raced to reach them, in time...

*DM's Notes:*

I had wanted to use Dracotaurs ever since seeing the preview of MM3 on Wizard's website. I figured they would work great in this campaign as cavalry mercenaries of the Yuan-ti (wishing to keep with a scaled theme). Plus they look mean as hell, as evidenced by the players comments when showed a picture of what it was that was closing in on them!

The party are now into Chapter Two, en route to Waterdeep and thence to Wolfhill House. I owe a debt to Jason Kuhl for this stage of the campaign, as much of it is adapted from his adventure "Slave Vats of the Yuan-ti" in Dungeon issue 69. The whole party was there this week, and thus I felt justified in throwing a bigger battle their way, if only to foreshadow that as tough as Broca House was to take down, they have really only begun to face the scope of the threat they are up against. and I got to include a brief encounter with some of my favourite bad guys, the Zhents, who will probably turn up again at some point. They are too good as villains to leave on the sidelines.

We are taking a break for a week, as next weekend is Gen Con UK, and many of us will be attending that instead.


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## Brakkart

*Apology*

Sorry for not updating this story hour in the past week. We had a session last friday and then I promptly went and lost my notes as to who did what to whom and when. Which made writing up an account of the session understandably somewhat problematic. However, after talking this over with Dan at work today I believe I have the rough outline of events worked out, so I will attempt to write up last week and tonights session logs and get them on this thread in the next day or so.

I'll also be sure to keep a better track of my notes in future, so that my few readers will not be denied their weekly update of scaly-related shenanigans.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Eight*

...As one, several of the Dracotaurs breathed fire, bathing those between them in the inferno, as apparently even reptilian centaurs like their meals to be cooked. Not waiting around for another dose of the same, Ki darted out through the legs of one and nimbly made his way around to the chieftains rear, but his blade met with tough scales, barely making a scratch. From on high, Aeron drew one of the wands that the group had taken from Broca's corpse and rained magic missiles down on two of the beasts, feeling one that was already greviously injured.

Zamtap then snapped out of the stunned trnace he had been in, having succumbed to the deafening effect of one of his spells, and imediately placed hands on Jebodiahs back, bolstering him with as much healing energy as he could muster. Newly, invigorated the dwarf snarled and threw everything into one collossal blow, slamming his axe down into the chieftain, blood and scales hewn apart in the blades ruinous passage, but to his utter astonishment, the chieftain remained standing, albeit barely. vowing revenge, the chieftain returned the blow in kind, hacking the barbarian down, the lifeforce leaving Jebodiahs ruined body.

The sight of the dwarf dying seemed to galvanise the others, Elena charging in and cutting another of the lumbering beasts down with the aid of Gylippus, and Aeron blasted the chieftain, finally dropping him. At this the last of the Dracotaurs morale finally broke and he ran for the hills, only for a vengeful Noob to shoot arrows at his back, Zamtam fired off a pistol shot but the bullet ricocheted off the creatures hide, and then Aeron brought it down with another use of the magic missile wand.

As Noob set about looting the bodies of the Dracotaurs, so Elena and Zamtap both tried to revive Jebodiah, but to no avail. Over the splitting up of the meagre wealth their ambushers had been carrying, the party decided to backtrack a few hours to the village of Talbott, whixh they had passed through earlier in the day, as there was a small temple to Lathander there, in the hope of getting their fearless comrade returned to life. Tying what was left of the dwarf over the back of his pony, the party set off back the way they came.

Arriving back in the village, the group carried Jebodiahs corpse to The Morning's Glory, a small chapel dedicated to the Morninglord, and the only religious building in the village. After a lengthy discussion about what the group wanted, whether the dwarfs soul would be ameanable to returning to life, and how the group were going to pay for such a deed to be done, it was agree that in exchange for the ceremony of raise dead to be performed, a tithe of 700 gold pieces was to be paid (which was promptly handed over), and a task must be done by the party.

The task set to them however, caught more than a couple by surprise. They were to slay a small red dragon, which had only recently arrived in the area. Brother Geven of Lathander wanted the creature destroyed before it began preying on the villagers, outlying farms and livestock. A local ranger by the name of Soren knew the location of the creatures lair and was willing to take the group to it. After a fair bit of discussion amongst themselves, the group finally agreed to the priests terms and were told that he would restore life to the dwarf in the morning.

The party paid for room and board at The Wizards Alm's, the only Inn in the village of Talbott. Over a few drinks and an evening meal they learned that the village was named for the reclusive wizard whose tower soared above every other building in the settlement. It turns out that the wizard did not so much found the village, as merely built his tower and other people started to settle around it, as they figured that it was likely to be safer in the shadow of a mages tower than simply building their house just anywhere. Over the past fifty years the settlement had grown to more than two dozen buildings, yet the mage himself was rarely seen, but apparently somewhat amused at the village that bears his name.

The morning of Marpenoth 4th, saw the group return to the temple to witness the calling back of Jebodiah's spirit from the Fugue Plane. The party welcomed him back from beyond the pale, and helped the still severely injured dwarf back to the Inn, where upon Zamtap and Elena used a good potion of their magics to restore him to health. Deciding to wait until tomorrow to go battle the dragon, so that all can have full magics, Aeron spent the day summoning a familiar, gaining himself one of the village cats as a companion. Gylippus meanwhile, spent the day in casting an identify spell to determine the properties of a wand the group recovered from the Dracotaurs, finding out that it can cast Summon Monster II.

It was on Marpenoth 5th that the party strapped on armour, readied their spells, said their prayers and rode off in the company of Soren early in the morning to beard the dragon in its den. After a half hours ride, the ranger led them to a small cave in the side of a hill, mounds of earth and rocks piled up messily in front of the opening, proof of recent and ongoing excavations. Leaving the ranger with their horses, the party cast a few spells amongst themselves and advanced into the tunnel that led into the interior of the hill.

Making their way steadily along the twisting tunnel, they spotted a side spur and Gylippus departed down it to investigate. Not waiting for his return, Zamtap pushed ahead of the group to where the tunnel opened out into a vast cavern, and Jebodiah advanced further ahead of the others still, out into the open of the cave and there he saw it, down the far end of the cavern, a large red scaled beast nestled atop a pile of treasure... a thunderous voice boomed out from that end of the cavern:

"NONE MAY ENTER THE LAIR OF SULPHACITEZUS. DROP EVERYTHING YOU OWN AND RUN, AND PERHAPS I WILL SPARE YOUR WORTHLESS LIVES!!"

On hearing this, Jebodiah backed up a couple steps, around the corner and out of direct sight of the dragon. Just a shame he had not seen the halfling crouched behind the big rock nearby, who promptly stepped out, eyeing both the dwarf and the priest of Gond, grinned and doffed his hat to them, breaking the illusion granted by it, as the dragon roared a cone of flame over the pair of them. Caught totally by surprise, neither was able to dodge the searing flames, and while Jebodiah remained standing, he was greviously burned. Zamtap collapsed to the ground from his wounds.

Growling obscenities, Jebodiah charged the grinning dragon, his axe though doing really very little to it, as he discovered that Dracotaurs and Dragons are indeed two very different beasts. Noob advanced steadily down the tunnel,  he had been trailing the party and moving slowly, staying against one wall and being all but invisible. Elena darted forwards and ran to the far side of the rock pillar that the dragon was behind, inching her way around towards the beasts rear, while Gylippus and Ki headed towards its front, hoping to do away with Sulphacitezus before he got an opportunity to breathe fire again. Aeron dragged Zamtap out of sight down the corridor and forced a healing potion down his neck, and then headed back to the fray. Restored to consciousness the Gondsman wasted no time in healing himself, staying well down the tunnel away from the battle for the moment.

Annoyed at the sheer number of foes it faced, the dragon took steps to whittle down the group, and teeth, claws, wings and tail descended in a furious flurry of attacks on Jebodiah, the dwarf succumbing to massive wounds and for the second time in a tenday, his spirit departed his flesh for the afterlife. Elena darted around behind the dragon, even as Ki and Gylippus both reached the front of it, giving the beast many foes to have to deal with, and catching it in a pincer. Sadly while the group were more than able to hit the beast, few of their strikes really seemed to do much to it. At that point, Aeron grinned and dropped a Gedlee's Electric Loop on the creature, amazing even himself when he stunned it, and Noob reached the cavern, bow in hand, and he began pumping arrows into the young wyrm's neck.

A vicious tail slap smashed Elena to the ground, and rakes of its claws and teeth tore into the monk and rogue before it, but they remained standing, even as their weapons found their mark, ripping great rents in the beasts hide, Aeron adding a blast of magic missiles in for good measure as Noob continued to remain unseen, shooting from the nearby shadows. Zamtap even arrived back and blasted a shot from his pistol at the creature, but with no effect. Roaring in pain and anger, Sulphacitezus could yet feel his health beginning to wane, and he acted in haste, moving back over the prone form of Elena, inhaling as he went in order to send a second cone of fire at the group. Not about to let that happen, both Ki and Gylippus leapt at the beast as it tried to withdraw and their twin strikes brought the crimson terror crashing to the ground.

The euphoria of victory, tainted by the death of Jebodiah, the party conferred and decided to try their luck in asking for a second raise dead, having accomplished what by any standards was a remarkable feat. Gathering up the small hoard of gold, art and magic items from under the illusionary red dragon that had fooled Jebodiah, the party packed their saddlebags full and rode back towards the village, returning only three hours after they had left, noon not having yet arrived, the dwarves pony once more bearing its masters corpse to the temple, as well as the head of the dragon!

On seeing the severed head of the beast, Brother Geven was overjoyed and immediately agreed to call Jebodiah back from the dead the next morning, for no additional fee. He simply glad to see that the village would not suffer the depredations of such an evil creature. The group wearily retired to The Wizard's Alms to sink a few cold beers for the rest of the day!

*DM's Notes:*

Well thats a first for me, killing the same character twice in the same session! I had created Talbott intending to have the players stay there and have the dragon attack the village and draw them into going to find and slay the beast that way, but I think this actually turned out better, and was a stronger motivation for them to do battle with Sulphacitezus. I'll just have to stage a draconic night attack on a village/town some other time. Amongst the treasure recovered by the group is a nice dwarven waraxe named Stormcleaver, that I placed for Jebodiah as if he is going to go charging everything that comes along, he might as well come into a weapon that will give him a slightly better chance of felling whatever beast it is. I didn't count on him dying again though, so at present Noob is carrying it.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Nine*

Dawn came to Marpenoth 6th and with it the power of the Morninglord flowed through the ruins of Jebodiah's body, mending broken bones and rendering the corpse fit for his soul to once more inhabit. Waking on the altar again, he was greeted by Elena who thanked Brother Geven and helped her comrade through the village to the Inn, whereupon she used her wand to restore him to full health, Zamtap looking on but not offering any healing himself.

The group decided to set off back on the trail the next day, several of them nursing hangovers anyway from the drinking session the night before. Taking the opportunity to study Broca's spellbook, Aeron takes the day to copy Protection from Normal Arrows into his own spellbook from that tome. Meanwhile downstairs, the Innkeeper announces that he will be sending the dragons head to Baldur's Gate to get it properly stuffed and mounted and wanted to know the groups name so that he might have it put on a plaque under the head, commerating the heroes victory.

This immediately produced a lengthy argument, as Gylippus was insistant that the group did not need, or indeed want a collective name, as such an appelation would make them easier to locate. coming down for dinner in the midst of his scribing, Aeron weighed in that he liked the name "Serpent Guard" for the group, but his suggestion met with no approval from the others, and he took his meal back up to his room to carry on writing in his spellbook. When the debate finally subsided, it had been decided, not to decide on a name for themselves. Thus was The Party With No Name born!

On Marpenoth 7th, the group saddled their horses, made their goodbyes and rode northwards out of Talbott, once more bound for Waterdeep. The next few days passed uneventfully, with no notable encounters, save for a slight slowing of the pace as they rode along a stretch of the trail where they could see the ruins of Dragonspear Castle from. On Marpenoth 10th the party rode into Daggerford and made their way to the Daggerford Inn. Deciding on spending some of the money they had gained of late, they booked rooms for three days, checked their bags in, and then the group promptly split up and headed to the various stores, all except for Aeron who stayed in his room, having bought plenty of special inks and such back in Baldur's Gate, and decided to add the spells Ray of Enfeeblement and Alter Self to his growing repertoire.

Gylippus, found his way to Oleg's Weaponforge and after some inquiry, handed over the gold to have his rapier enhanced with magic, the half-orc smith getting right to work on it, letting him know that it would be ready to collect in a couple days time, he not getting much in the way of business. Zamtap however, went to a rival smithy, the famed Derval's Bright Blade where he stumped over the funds to buy himself superior quality breastplate, a large shield and a new warhammer. Elena visited several temples, and purchased herself some new potions, while Noob, Ki and Jebodiah kept the barmaid in the Inn busy, ferrying drinks to their table! In the couple days that followed, Gylippus also purchased some inks and set about adding Ray of Enfeeblement to his own spellbook, scribing it across from Janesh Broca's.

On Marpenoth 13th the party bade farewell to Daggerford, rested and re-equipped and spent an unpleasant day riding past the stinking mounds of the Rat Hills, the massive refuse tip of Waterdeep. Making camp for the night beside the Trade Way, they decided to enter Waterdeep in two seperate groups, several hours apart, not knowing whether word of the massacre at Broca House in Baldur's Gate would have reached the City of Splendors as yet, and not wanting to take any chances. They agreed to meet at noon at The Yawning Portal on the 15th, as that was a tavern where adventurers were the norm, and they could easily blend into the crowd.

The 14th of Marpenoth dawned and at noon Zamtap, Jebodiah and Aeron were the first to approach the Gate of the South, one of the many huge fortified entrances to the great northern metropolis. thinking it a good idea to disguise his air genasi heritage, Aeron cast an Alter Self on himself. The trio passed easily into the city, handing over the gate toll on the way in, and they made their way to the Safehaven Inn on Slop Street, taking rooms there, it being a fairly low key place to stay. They resolved to wait there until the next day, much to the dwarfs aproval, as the place served really quite good ale.

Towards late evening, Gylippus, Elena, Ki and Noob approached the same gate, with Gylippus also in disguise and following Elena's lead they made their way into Dock Ward, and took up residence at The Sharkman's Revenge, a new tavern named after the assault the sahuagin had launched on the city in 1369DR, it being late at night when they get there, they head straight to their rooms for rest.

Having agreed to meet at noon on Marpenoth 15th, the party made their way through the streets towards the tavern, apart from Elena and Jebodiah, who each made a significant detour. Elena headed to the Harbourmasters offices on the dockfront, and inquired into whether her old ship the Fardale had been in port recently. To her surprise, the clerk went and fetched a book on known pirate vessels and she suddenly found herself under scrutiny, only narrowly managing to bluff her way out of a prolonged stretch in the cells, giving a false identity in the process.

Jebodiah meanwhile after a few inquirys found his way to the small temple to Clangeddin Silverbeard and paid his respects to the Dwarven Lord of Battles, donating a thousand gold pieces to the shrine to the amazement and appreciation of Brant the very old warpriest who tended the shrine. Receiving a couple potions of healing "to help keep you on your feet lad" after telling of his recent double brush with death, Jebodiah headed on his way to the Yawning Portal, meeting the others already gathered there and sitting down at a corner table to discuss what they should do next.

Aeron put forward the idea of heading to a temple of Oghma to see if they could research the couple leads they had, and Zamtap and Gylippus agreed to go with him, the other electing to stay put and drink beer. On the way to the temple, Gylippus vanished, and went off to wander about the city for a while.

Reaching The Font of Knowledge, the remaining pair headed inside and contacted a Binder, handing over funds for a search and copies to be made of anything that would turn up. They were immediately in luck with regards to their questions about Wolfhill House, the priest of Oghma finding them an old journal recovered from the house by an adventuring group who had visited there a few years ago. Though heavily damaged by water, a few of Hezekiel Wolf's entries were still legible and the priest and wizard pondered over the meaning of the things written by the long dead builder of the house. they also paid for a map to the house, as well as inquiry into Serpentes, as they had no real idea what or where it was, other than both of them were certain it was a place somewhere, that was in some way connected with the Yuan-ti. They were told to come back in a few days time.

The pair made their way back to the Yawning Portal, Gylippus arriving a short time later and related what they had found to the party, telling the others of the strange growth effect that seemed to blight the house, Aeron muttering about cursed wild magic areas being a stain on the Weave all the while.

*DM's Notes:*

A session without a single combat encounter, a first for this campaign. The party are now in Waterdeep, and pursuing inquiries prior to setting out for Wolfhill House itself, so Chapter Two of the campaign is well under way. Also Matt gave me his characters background to post, so the experience points from that will go a long way towards him regaining the couple levels he lost.


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## Brakkart

*Jebodiah Bugman's History*

The tale of Jebodiah Bugman, by Urgrim Trollbane, Loremaster and holder of the long list of grudges.
Thought of the day: Never trust an elf

Here lies the tale of Jebodiah Bugman…

On the 3rd day of the 2nd 10-day, Ches, 1337, Jebodiah Bugman was born. Son of Josef and Helga, Jeb was raised within the grand walls of Citadel Adbar.

Jeb’s father, Josef, was famous throughout the great Dwarven realms for his brewing, and it was within Citadel Adbar that he made his infamous Troll Brew and the legendary XXXXXX. The quality of his beers was second to none and he began to train Jebodiah in the fine art of brewing.

Jeb came from a long line of warrior Dwarves, his grandfather; Zamnil Bugman was one of the greatest Shield Dwarves, ever vigilant along the walls of the citadel and one of the mightiest of those to wade into battle with the greenskinned menace.

Citadel Adbar lies to the north of Faerûn, a great garrison to the ravenous hordes of the greenskinned Orcs who vie to overrun the Forgotten Realms. The Citadel itself is built into the earth and most of it lies underground. Its defences are so strong that it has held fast from over 100 Orc attacks.
Inside the Citadel, an impressive metal works leaves the air filled with filings and the taste of iron and the cacophony of these works and the subterranean nature of the garrison leaves Elvish and Human visitors often nervous, although Halflings and Gnomes feel quite at home.

Amidst the industrial core of the Citadel lay Bugman’s Bar, a large building carved out of the natural stone. It is here that Josef brewed and sold his beers and it is here that we find our hero. Jebodiah Bugman was taught by his father the ways of brewing throughout his childhood, appreciative at first, Jeb soon became reluctant to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Learning of the tales of his Grandfather from his mother, Jeb soon became enthralled by the stories of bravery and courage told to him. Wielding his masterworked Urgrosh axe and wearing the finest chainmail, Zamnil would enter battle unafraid of death, his two-handed axe bringing down an innumerable number of Orcs before the huge north walls of the citadel.

Zamnil’s tomb lies not far from the site of Bugman’s Bar, and it houses a large crafted stone effigy of the brave warrior. Ever cool from the wet walls of the citadel, the tomb is solace to the Bugman family. The warrior’s weapons and armour hung from the walls, cleaned from rust and kept sharp by Helga, it is a constant reminder of the threat of invasion in which all of the occupants live with every day.

Josef Bugman was born in the Citadel, he was the proud son of Zamnil and Hilda, however he failed to meet his father’s expectations of becoming one of the warrior Dwarves that manned the defences of the keep. Instead, Josef taught himself how to brew beer and ale, in fact, some of his earlier contraptions still lie, brown with rust, in the basement of the bar. A disappointment to his father, he married Helga and she was soon with child.

It was in the bloodiest conflict with the Orcish hordes that Zamnil fell; a thousand Orcs swept onto the defences, a seemingly unstoppable torrent. The battle outside the defences was short and bloody, the horde sweeping through the defenders before the walls, the earth becoming wet with rain and slick with blood, the battle raged upon the walls.
It was soon looking dire for the dwarves, the walls had been breached and the conscripted forces were being pushed back. However, the clever ingenuity of the dwarves of Citadel Adbar saved them from destruction; they laid explosives within one of the north towers, the defenders inside unperturbed by their grizzly fate.
Meanwhile, the conscripted Shield Dwarves were battling within the labyrinthine tunnels of the citadel; bottlenecked, the orcs were easy pickings for the determined dwarves.
Amidst the roar of battle, a great explosion rang out unto the Forgotten Realms, the north tower exploded in a mass of stone and debris, the remainder of the tower toppled over and fell onto the field of battle. Many hundreds of Orcs were crushed or their bodies broken from the huge mass of stone hurled outward from the explosion, they did not, however, cease their advance.
Battered but not beaten the stoic defenders fought long and hard, baying to keep the threat of Orcs from overwhelming them and then sweeping through into the west of Faerun. For many days and nights the defenders fought the greenskinned usurpers within the corridors and tunnels of the citadel. Finally the horde was stopped, a few feet from the great interior core of the citadel.

The calm after the battle was met with a pale dawn, and the survivors counted the dead… among them, Zamnil’s broken body lay slick with wet soil and blood, yet proud amongst the many orcs that fell to his blade.

 It is within his tomb that the tale of Zamnil was written, on the same walls that bore his arms and armour; both of which were taken up twelve years later to the day of his death by his reluctant son, Josef. In the defence of the Citadel, all Dwarves took up arms and manned the defences; this was one of those days.

Jebodiah’s father had never likened to war like his father had, since the death of Zamnil; he had become more and more introvert. Always happy when working, he never did speak of his father, even to his closest friends or most loyal customers.

The fighting had already begun by the time the conscripts had been readied. Caught off-guard, the Shield Dwarves of Citadel Adbar had only the might of the walls and their lives before defeat. Another great horde of Orcs had amassed, and it was not long before the conscripts were in the thick of the fighting.

Butchered and bloodied Josef’s body lay, not far from the site of his father’s death. The Citadel was safe, but at what cost? Adbar was never undermanned, but its forces were always overstretched after a conflict.

Angered by the needless and unrelenting death of his people, Jebodiah left his mourning mother; took up his grandfather’s arms, which had been laid with his father in the tomb and left the Citadel. Fuelled by the hatred of the green-skins, Jebodiah trod the path of the Barbarian; wandering the mountains of the Silver Marches, amongst the Dwarven scouts; killing all the Orcs he saw.

His bloodlust quenched, Jeb journeyed south-west to the city of Baldur’s Gate, knowing that his return to the Citadel may not be a welcome one; he went about finding himself a job- perhaps this great city would present some opportunities for our hero?

*Writers note:*

Permission given to Robert “Bob” Langford to post this document on the internet.
Some of the more vigilant readers may notice that I have taken the character Josef Bugman from the WARHAMMER fantasy world, from GAMES WORKSHOP; I’m sure they won’t mind as I was a bit stuck for ideas for a character and thought I could use the idea of Josef and the bar as a stepping stone, the rest of the work is my own.
You may wish to know that this is my first participation in a well-written and background-worthy Dungeons & Dragons campaign. My thanks go to the DM and the other players.
This is a working document and will be updated regularly with the inclusion of Jeb’s exploits added to the journal. I also feel that the last half of the background is well, a little thin, so do not be surprised if I also change this.
I understand that this document may not be historically accurate to the events in the Forgotten Realms, but give me a break- I’m new to this D&D lark, understand?


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Ten*

Marpenoth 16th saw the group waking up to a rainy day in Waterdeep. As with yesterday they met up at the Yawning Portal near noon, and as they were drinking their first round and debating who was going to do what that day, they watched as a city guardsman entered, conferred with the barman and then tacked up a notice on a message board, which they (and many other adventurers in the Inn) duly read. The notice read as follows:

_"Sir Justin Melenikus, a renowned knight of Helm, needs brave and hearty adventurers to help slay monstrous threats from the dreaded Mere of Dead Men. Fell creatures have been attacking caravans on the High Road, slaughtering travelers, and endagering Waterdeep's trade with its northern neighbours. Unless the monsters are defeated, all trade to the north could be halted. Sir Justin and his watchers have made camp in the ruins of Iniarv's Tower, located four days' walk toward Leilon. Interested parties should meet with Sir Justin in person."
"Rewards for slain monsters shall be authorised by Sir Justin. Gold shall paid by the Free Merchants' Guild upon presentation of a stamped writ from the knight himself."_

The group decided that they should set off for Iniarv's Tower tomorrow. In the meantime, they split up. Noob and Jebodiah elected to remain in the Portal and sink a few drinks, as well as be present should any of the rest need to leave a message for the rest of the group when they got back. Aeron mentioned something about a family matter, and headed off across the city to his family's home. Zamtap and Ki took it upon themselves to try and find out more about Esau Enoch, whilst Elena and Gylippus headed to the Waterdeep branch of Buckman, Brintle & Mite.

Reaching the store, the pair were annoyed to find it very busy, with a long queue at the counter, and since both needed some new clothing after the past month (especially Elena who needed something less piratey to wear), they decided to come back in a couple hours and go clothes shopping first! Zamtap & Ki headed to the headquarters of the Watchful Order of Magists & Protectors to ask to check their records, but with neither of them able to cast even an arcane cantrip, they were soundly refused entry. Not giving up easily, they headed to a nearby watch station, and asked to see the criminal records. Caught off guard by the bluntness of their request, not used to such, the desk sargeant asked why they needed to see such, to which Zamtap mentioned that they were engaged in hunting Esau Enoch. The sargeant grimaced and pulled out Enoch's file... a tome thick enough to club a giant senseless with!!

The sargeant showed them artists impressions of the grisly findings at several of the scientists laboratories, and mentioned that he had not been seen in some years. Also that he had a habit of always writing a personal journal in which to record his genius. Asking whether they were serious in hunting him down, the pair nodded and mentioned that they had good reason to believe he was in the area. The sargeant rang a bell, summoning a colleague and assigning him to join the pair in the hunt. Sargeant Thols Peredhel, a half-elf paladin of Torm, and city watchman was tasked with bringing Enoch to justice, and with ensuring that his new companions stayed within the law, and refrained from engaging in vigilante activity within the city.

On returning to Buckman's store, Elena and Gylippus asked whether stock has started to vanish, and as they suspected, there have been thefts. the same list of supplies missing is related to them, and as tallied with Enoch's letter they found at Broca House, the amounts are much smaller, and the thefts less common, occurring every other week or so. The store manager informs them that the cost of the goods is so little that he has all but written the losses off as "the cost of doing business".

Aeron checks in with his father and the two talk about Esau Enoch being back in this part of the world, a matter of grave concern for both of them. They decide to keep this information from Aeron's mother, even as Aeron announces that he has gathered a band together and they will be going to hunt down the villain on the morrow. His father wishes him good hunting.

Meeting back at the Portal, the group catch up on each others doings, and Thols is introduced to the others, much to Aerons annoyance, as Zamtap has filled the paladin in on what the group are up to, and his duty to tell the truth, conflicts with Aeron's desire for secrecy when an elf sat at the next table inquires about the groups destination, with Aeron stating that they are headed south towards Baldur's Gate, while Thols calmly insists that the party are bound for Wolfhill House to the north. Somewhat bemused by the squabble, the elf introduces himself as Craulnober and suggests that he might be interested in hiring them if they ever get back from wherever it is that they are going.

Bored by the others discussions, Elena made her excuses and left, heading back through the streets towards her inn, but after a short while she realised she was being followed. Ducking into a doorway, she waited and then spied her tail, a young man with a shaved head. She stepped out and confronted him, and was attacked. Though her opponent went first, the lady pirate easily outclassed him and swiftly cut him down, though she used her healing magic to save his life. Searching him, she pocketed some gold coins, and also saw a familiar sabre-toothed snakehead tattoo on his back. Starting to drag his comatose form through the street towards the nearest watch house, she was stopped and arrested by a watch patrol, and taken to Watchhouse Nineteen. An officer was sent to fetch Thols when she mentions him by name, while the injured man was taken to a nearby temple to be healed, a guard being placed on him.

The next day, Marpenoth 17th, saw Elena and the rest of the occupants of the watchouses's cells herded into a waggon and taken to the ward magistrates office. The rest of the group made their way from their inn's to the courthouse to hopefully help to get their comrade acquitted as she had been charged with brawling and grevious bodily harm. The hearing however, was abandoned before it really began as the court was informed that the injured man had vanished, leaving a dead priest and guardsman at the temple. Not wishing another pitched battle with the cultists in the midst of the city, the party grabbed their mounts from stables and headed out of Waterdeep, riding north along the High Road. They made camp that night beside the road, but other than other travellers on the road and farmers working the fields and orchards on either side of it, they encountered no-one.

The party rode hard all day through Marpenoth 18th and by evening had made their way to the fortress trading post of Thornhold, a few miles south of the Mere itself. they paid for rooms, food, ale, and stabling and rested in safety behind the thick walls that used to be home to the Knights of Samular (an order devoted to Tyr), but was now run by a woman named Bronwyn and her dwarf allies.

At noon the next day (Marpenoth 19th), after a hard mornings ride along the High Road beside the vast Mere, the group arrived at Iniarv's Tower and were shown into Sir Justin's  map room, inside the tower which he and his companions were clearly in the process of rebuilding. After briefing the knight of Helm on their situation and intention to explore Wolfhill House, they were given some information on the area. They were told that the house is not on the list of the Justin's targets in the Mere, as he had thought it home to nothing more than large insects. Their information that the Yuan-ti and Esau Enoch are there, was a shock to him, and he gifted the party with some healing potions and offered them stabling for their mounts at the tower. He updated their map, as well as letting them know that the house lies within the territory of a tribe of lizardfolk who call themselves the Poison Dusk. "Damnably good archers the lot of them!" he states.

Elena suggests the group should take boats to get to the house, but none of the others agree, preferring to take the only land route to the site, a narrow causeway through the swamp, miles in length. Bidding Justin goodbye, the party set out and headed down the High Road to where the causeway starts, electing to make camp there for the night and enter the Mere in the morning. The night is uneventful apart from one slightly worrying occurance on second watch when the croaking sounds from the swamp frogs are disturbed by a single very loud *CROAK*, the swamp then falling silent. Elena and Ki on watch, looked at one another uneasily at that...

*DM's Notes:*

Well thats two sessions with only the barest trace of combat, so the next few sessions will make up for its lack, as the group are about to really go through the grinder. I think the group needed a couple "easy" sessions, to get them more into character, and some of the groups personalities are really starting to show through (hopefully I'm doing a competant job as chronicler in showing that in these logs). Also added in the eighth player, and had a few of the group complement me on how I introduced him, as getting a new PC into a party is never easy.

Ohh yeah, and apologies for taking so long to post this!


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## Brakkart

*The Party With No Name (Updated 22 November)*

Here are the updated short stats for the group:

*Mark*   Noob Saibot CG Human Ranger2/Rogue3
*Alastair*   Gylippus CN Human Rogue3/Wizard2
*Gareth*   Zamtap N Human Cleric4 (Gond)
*Dan*   Elena Morningstal CG Human Fighter2/Cleric1/Swashbuckler2 (Valkur)
*Phillip*   Aeron Greycastle NG Air Genasi Wizard4
*Tony*   Ki Tendragion LN Human Rogue3/Monk2
*Matt*   Jebodiah Bugman CG Dwarf Barbarian3/Fighter1
*Richard*   Thols Perendhel LG Half-Elf Paladin4 (Torm)

As you can see the group has swelled to eight players now (and thats the upper limit I've imposed, I've DM'ed for eight before doing a 2nd edition Night Below campaign, so eight I can handle).

As to the variety of levels, Gareth missed the whole Broca House invasion, Dan missed half of it. Matt's dwarf has died twice, and Richard joined after the campaign started so enters at a level below the upper level in the party.

On the plus side, Zamtap and Jebodiah have histories written up now, and I should have (hopefully) histories for both Elena and Aeron soon.


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## Fraggleonacid

Small correction, Gylippus is Rogue 3 / Wizard 1.  5th level has nothing to recommend it (Wizard 2) so I'm giving it a miss...


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## Brakkart

Fraggleonacid said:
			
		

> Small correction, Gylippus is Rogue 3 / Wizard 1.  5th level has nothing to recommend it (Wizard 2) so I'm giving it a miss...




Duly noted and I've edited the party stats above to relfect that. You can't skip levels though, you can only go up 1 level at a time, so you can't jump from 4th to 6th.


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## Fraggleonacid

Yes, I know.  But if you hold back until you are within a few hundred XP it can feel a lot like giving it a miss.  (I've actually elected to take the level 'early', the rewards for holding back at this level aren't that great either - only about 10%)


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Eleven*

Waking on the morning of Marpenoth 20th, the party girded themselves for a hard slog along the causeway to the knoll that the house was built upon. With Thols in the lead, Elena just behind him and the others following them in single file, they set out into the Mere of Dead Men.

 All went well for many hours, and as the sun was dipping in the sky , and the shadows were lengthening, they were finally able to see the heavily overgrown hill up ahead, the causeway leading to some sort of small ruined buiding at the edge of the swamp. It was then as the group started to relax that Aeron realised that something was very amiss. His attention very much on the swamp, he bagan to hear the birdsong of a type of bird he knew to have been hunted to extinction decades ago. Realising instantly that the sound was being used as a call signal, he carefully looked to each side of the causeway, and spotted the moving shapes of about two dozen lizardfolk closing in on the group. Immediately casting Protection from Arrows on himself, he called out a warning in Elven and Dwarven, but only a couple of the others got it, before the swamp rang to the sound of plucked bow strings, and the sky darkened with arrows!

Attacked from both sides, and heavily outnumbered, the groups cohesion faltered, andfor a moment all was chaos, as arrows struck home on several of the group. The Poison Dusk tribe certainly lived up to their name, the tips of their missiles coated in blue whinnis, to debilitate their foes. Seeing the ruin up ahead with its stone walls as their best bet, several of the group surged down the pathway towards it, running the gauntlet between various groups of the scaled archers, each advancement met with a hail of fire from newly appearing archers.

Growling in anger, and fed up of being shot, Jebodiah unsheathed Stormcleaver, looked around, spotted the biggest, meanest lizardman he could lay eyes on, and bellowed a challenge at him to face the dwarf in single combat. Unable to refuse such a direct threat in front of his men, the lieutenant dove into the swamp water and swam towards the causeway, powerful tail pushing him quickly towards his taunter.

As the others continued to move down the causeway, arrows bounced off Aeron left, right and centre, and the wizard launched spells to whittle down the numbers of archers harrassing his companions. Not wanting to be outdone by the genasi, Zamtap drew his pistol and started firing at those shooting at him, to give them a taste of their own medicine. Having reached the relative safety of the ruins, Gylippus and Thols ducked into cover, the paladin suffering from several doses of poison, shafts sticking out of gaps in his armour. Elena and Ki likewise reached safety and drew their missile weapons to return fire from cover, Elena's efforts delayed by her bowstring snapping.

Back on the causeway the lizardfolk champion leapt out of the water, spear in hand to do battle with the dwarf, only to be swiftly hacked apart in a duo of awesome blows, the barabrians waraxe, showing just why it was named Stormcleaver, as twin crashes of thunder echoed over the Mere, his opponent reduced to shower of red mist and chunks of flesh. At this display of sheer carnage, fully half the remaining Poison Dusk beat a hasty retreat, not wishing to be the next to meet the dwarfs axe. With that settled, Jebodiah headed towards the ruin, leaving the remaining lizardfolk to be quickly picked off by Elena, Ki, Zamtap and Aeron.

Checking the ruin, the group were able to determine that it must have once been the gatehouse to the Wolfhill estate. They also encountered a trio of giant worker ants, who were systematicly demolishing the place, taking the materials elsewhere back to the nest. Deciding to camp at the edge of the hill for the night, the group set up base amidst the massive reeds and set about healing up, with Zamtap muttering about how he'd have to memorise a lot of lesser restorations the next day to rid the group of all the poison in their bodies.

*DM's Notes:*

Well this entire session was taken up by one long battle, with two battlemats laid end to end, the group having to make it along the length, with arrows and lizardfolk coming at them from all quarters as they did. I'd never run a "Run the Gauntlet" style battle before, but I think it was a lot of fun and everyone had their moment (especially Jebodiah and the impregnable Aeron, who just walked through it all!). No doubt the Poison Dusk will lick their wounds and they'll be ready for round two when the party leave the hill (which they regard as taboo).

After two sessions of little to no combat, I think the guys enjoyed an episode of serious dice rolling, I know I did!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twelve*

Rising early on Marpenoth 21st, the party turned to its healers (in particular Zamtap), to rid them of the effects of the poison in their blood, and the Gondsman did just that. In the morning light, they notice that the giant ants have removed more than half the ruins during the course of the night, and there likely will not be a gatehouse remaining at all very soon. The group pack up their things, and trek up the carriageway towards the looming edifice that is Wolfhill House itself, the structure massive and heavily overgrown with vines and creepers, most of its windows having shattered. The group are briefly puzzled by the enormous anchor sat in the middle of the carriage turning circle in front of the house, until Elena points out that it is from a galleon, and Zamtap remembers that Hezekiel Wolf was a noted mariner.

 The party entered the house through the broken brass front doors, walking into a large ballroom, strewn with dead leaves. Empty apart from a large statue, and a pair of staircases that curled up to the upper floor, they shrugged and headed to investigate several of the doors leading off the room. Elena opened the first, and walked into a small powder room. Sifting around, looking for treasure, she lifted aside one of the remaining curtains and was immediately grabbed by it, the swathe of green cloth wrapping around her body, holding her helpless as it began to constrict around her throat. Her choking sounds drew the attention of Gylippus and Zamtap, they coming to try and help her, bashing and cutting at the curtain even as the sounds and struggles from Elena became less and less. Ki joined in, trying to pull down the curtain rail which it hung from with a grappling hook and rope but to no avail, as Gylippus used magic to weaken the cloth's hold, but even that did little to relieve Elena's plight. As Jebodiah and Thols raced to try and help, Elena made one last effort to free herself, finally slipping from the weakened curtains deathgrasp as her friends slashed at it.

As she healed herself, her throat painful in the extreme, so Gylippus decided to keep what was left of the killer curtain, wrapping it another curtain carefully, and tying it up. The party also decided to keep two small ceramiic vases they found, figuring that they could fetch some good coin back in Waterdeep. With that brush with death behind them, the group decided to stick together as they progressed through the west wing of the grand old house. Jebodiah bashed in the door to the parlor, and then as the others went off to explore the library, he and Thols headed out onto the patio and went peering in other windows from the outside, staying in close to the house lest they attract the attention of the giant wasps buzzing around the roof two stories up.

The library proving to have many hundreds of books on the sea, Elena was crestfallen at the realization that she couldn't possibly take them with her, and sulking went to join Thols and Jebodiah outside. After the brush with the curtain of death, Aeron quickly grew wary of all furniture, refusing to condone entering the museum of stuffed animals that Gylippus and Zamtap discovered, lest they animate.

While the others explored the librarys contents, the three fighter types went for a walk around the outside of the eastern wing of the house, peering in the broken windows and they walked back into the ballroom at the same time as the others, reporting a room filled with suits of armour and a giant stone head "We're not going in there, they'll animate and kill us all" said a paranoid Aeron, as well as a massive conservatory in which there was hanging a skeleton of a sperm whale of all things. Deciding that was soemthing they had to see, the group opened the door into the large octagonal glass walled chmaber at the back of the ballroom and walked in, seeing not only the whale skeleton suspended on cables up above, but also a large statue of a naked human woman with lobster head and claws, which Zamtap identified as beign a representation of the Koa-Toa goddess Blibdoolpoolp... which led to a couple minutes of them all falling about in laughter at the deitys name!

The trio also made mention of a room at the back of the west wing with intact windows, that was completely empty, and had a staircase leading down. Gylippus decided that was their best bet to finding wherever it was that the Yuan-ti were lairing and the group made its way around the the back doors to the room. Finding them barred from the inside, Thols, Elena and Jebodiah, walked back a few feet and then as one ran at the door, and shoulder charged their way inside... to be met by Gylippus who had simply smashed a window and walked in that way.

With the dwarf in the lead and the paladin right behind him, the group proceeded down into the cellars under the house, walking down the stairs into a vast pillared chamber with corridors leading off in three directions, a large pile of coal in one corner of the room. Jebodiah had barely cleared the stairs though before he was savagely set upon by a trio of hulking histachii, claws and teeth tearing into him.

Seeing the danger, Zamtap leapt forward, rolling and ducking through the throng of broodguards, and slapping a cure spell onto the dwarf, tumbling out the other side of the furious melee without a scratch on him! The rest of the party surged down the stairs, leaping and dodging into positions around the histachii, even as another of the scaled monsters ducked out of the shadows and launched itself into the fray, hissing and spitting as rage overcame it and its fellows.

Seeing Thols go down, as two of the creatures bit deeply into him, Zamtap waded into the fight, warhammer swinging and rescued the servant of Torm, healing his wounds, even as the histachii turned their claws on him, tearing gouges in the clerics flesh. Staying back up on the stairs, Aeron used his spells as best as he could, the speed and hardiness of the histachii thwarting his best efforts to stun and incapacitate them.

Fighting to great effect, his nimble form able to get to where he could deal the most damage quickly, Ki slew two of the creatures, and another fell to Gylippus' rapier as he had wasted no time in getting into the thick of the fight, rather than rely on his spells. The last of the broodguards was pinned against a wall and massacred by Elena, and the angry company of Thols and Jebodiah, eager to get payback for the wounds they had suffered. Recovering a gemstone from each of the vile things, the group looked about and could see only three tunnels leading away into darkness...

*DM's Notes:*

Well to my credit it was 12 sessions before this lot ended up in a dungeon, but this is D&D and they've already had a dragon, so this was kinda inevitable! I am using the maps and most of the details from the "Slave Vats of the Yuan-ti" adventure from Dungeon magazine, with a few notable changes, which will be explained later on.

I do enjoy having some laughs in any session, I find a bit of comedy works well in most games (with Ravenloft being a notable exception), and so I have to laugh at Aeron's insistence that everything is going to come to life and attack the group somehow... I'm not saying it won't, but it is funny!


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## Elder-Basilisk

I was expecting the skeleton of the sperm whale to animate and attack them. I think I'll have to use that in some adventure. It's a great image.


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## Brakkart

Elder-Basilisk said:
			
		

> I was expecting the skeleton of the sperm whale to animate and attack them. I think I'll have to use that in some adventure. It's a great image.




Oddly enough thats about the only item in the house that Aeron didn't think was going to animate and attack them. Can't take credit for the imagery though,. that belongs to Jason Kuhl who wrote the module I'm basing my Wolfhill House off of. I wonder if he is on these boards?


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## Brakkart

*Zamtap's Journal*

We got back to the portal inn with out difficulty and told the others what we had found.

Upon discussing what we had to do Aeron mentioned that he ought to pay his respects to his father, and that we had 2 other tasks, 1 to find out what if anything Waterdeep’s forces of law knew about Esau Enoch. 2 check if the local Buckman brink and mite store had had any problems. As we were discussing this we noticed a man putting up posters for adventurers to help clean up the mere of dead men, helping a paladin based at Iniarv’s tower. By co-incidence exactly where we want to go humm…

We chose Elena and Gylipus to visit Buckman’s store as they were likely to get into trouble if they met the law enforcers. They reported that while there had been thefts there wasn’t a problem. We should hunt for Esau.

Jebidiah and I went to find out what the lords of Waterdeep and their servants knew about Esau. The first place we tried was the guild of watchful protectors of Waterdeep; they turned me away as I wasn’t an arcane caster. The next place was the local watch house…

We walked up to the desk and asked about Esau, they got out a large ledger which apparently documented all his crimes. We only got a small impression of this man’s villainy. When we mentioned that we intended to stop this man, they questioned our motives. “We don’t want a vigilante action” we explained about Buckman and our past assoations with the case including the letter found in Brocca house. The desk occupier then called for a runner, if your intent on going for this man we’ll supply an escort to bring him in to face Waterdeep’s justice.

A man arrived dressed as a paladin, wearing the colours of Torm, answered the call. “Sergeant Tholl these people are from the guardians of the free and are seeking one Esau Enoch, we wish you to go with them and help the guardians bring this man to justice. You are to go with them and give them aid” We then introduced ourselves then we told him to meet us and the rest at the portal inn. We headed back there to meet up with the rest. Tholl went back to his barracks and then joined us. I made the guardians bit up on the spot it sounded about right for what we are doing, when we know ourselves what we are doing we can give ourselves a better name.

Once at table we ordered food and began telling our companions what had gone, we got as far as mentioning the addition to our party when he walked into the bar area. He spotted us and headed over, we introduced him to those present and conscious, and just told him the names of those unconscious. In the next half hour he proceeded to correct every attempt we made to mislead those who might be listening.

Elena left us early to make her way to her own place, an hour or so later a man comes for Sergeant Tholl and says “someone’s in custody and asking for you” Aeron and I accompanied the sergeant to the local watch house and were made to wait on the ground floor whilst Tholl went to the dungeons to talk to Elena. It appears that she was ambushed and nearly killed her assailant. We asked if he could be checked for a snake tattoo and guarded whatever. We explained to the desk clerk what we suspected from our past encounters, we got a horrid look from the guard who was sent to guard the assailant. There being nothing else we could do for our friend we left to get a nights sleep at the inn which we had booked rooms at (the Safe haven inn) In a strange move for a Paladin Tholl decided to stay at Elena’s side during the night, well I think its strange I’m not sure what to expect really.

In the morning Elena got her trial, She had to mention our past encounters with masked men, and our current target was mentioned by the paladin (oh dear). The trial was ended when the guard reported that the injured and nearly dead man had been broken out of the temple leaving two dead, the guard and a priest (I guess we couldn’t have done anything, I mean we did warn them). The judge acquitted Elena (He said he had no choice about this and seemed disappointed.) and at about midday the whole party of eight met up in the Portal inn.

From there we left in pretty short order. After a quiet afternoon we slept the night half a days travel away from Waterdeep. The next day’s travel was uneventful, in the evening we stopped at a castle that is undergoing repairs it seems to have been held variously by some knights of Tyr, Zents (by stealth) and now a clan of dwarves hold it, so it’s been through a lot, it feels secure now though

Today we came to Iniarv’s tower and met the paladin there; he was helpful, even grateful to see us. He said that the area that we needed to go to was not on his immediate list of places to be cleared but that he would aid us in our quest. Once we asked him what the bounty on Esau’s head was he said if you rid this swamp of him I’ll add tokens worth 10000 to the reward. It standard practice that we give those whom aid us a small level of aid, go see those in the tower and they will give you a healing potion each. We left feeling that we have an ally while we’re out here. We ended the day camped at the start of the causeway that leads to wolfhill house.

*DM's Notes:*

I have posted this exactly as Gareth handed it to me, without editing it for grammar and typos, as frankly it would take me ages! This is actually the second installment of journal I have been handed, and I'm not going to post the first part as it is a mess. Still he is getting better.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirteen (Part 1)*

Setting out to explore the tunnels, the party decided against heading down the southern route, as it had stairs leading down. "Best to clear this level before we go down any further" stated Gylippus, the rest nodding in agreement. Ki elected to guard the bottom of the stairs, in case anything should try coming down after the group, or worse, outflanking them and cutting off their avenue of escape from the cellars.

Alas it turned out that the cellars the group could reach were empty save for the now dead Histachii, and various storerooms with mostly wrecked contents, though Elena found a stash of intact (and very expensive) wine bottles in the old wine cellar, as well as a model ship in a bottle, and Jebodiah found fragments of a very large egg, that Aeron was able to identify as that of a snake. "Bloody big snake!" muttered the dwarf.

Puzzled by a new brick wall at the end of a long corridor, Gylippus subjected it to intense examination, even going as far as to try and disbelieve in its existence. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts. it remained very real and solid. Not one to be put off he then spent the better part of an hour, testing every foot of the tunnels walls, soon joined in this search by Zamtap, though neither was able to find anything remotely resembling a secret door or passage, much to their annoyance. Deciding to head down the stairs, the group were confronted by a square room, in which hung hundreds of different chains, down which flowed rivulets of water, the floor being under nealry a foot deep of the murky stuff. The rest of the group went back to searching the rest of the cellars again and then headed back up to the house, whilst Thols was convinced that there was something untoward in the room, and waded about for some time, getting thoroughly soaked in the process.

Back up in the house, the group elected to search the east wing on the ground floor and Elena opened the door into a room with many suits of ceremonial armour. Walking straight down the middle of the room, heedless of any traps, she snagged a tripwire and the others behind her looked on in horror as all nine suits of armour raised their right arms from behind the shields in front of them, each holding a crossbow and shot at her, all but one of the bolts striking her. Grumbling curses about traps, Elena and Thols (who had finally given up searching the room with all the chains in), split from the others, leaving them to explore the rest of the ground floor, while they went upstairs, the lady pirate tapping herself with her wand of healing as she went, rapidly exhausting its charges.

Trooping up the stairs in the main hall, they decided to explore the upper west wing first, cautiously listening at the door at the end of the balcony and then opening it, into a corridor. The first door they tried was locked, and after encountering two traps thus far, Elena was in no mood to barge the door down and possibly get hit by another, so they moved on and tried the next door they came too. Opening it they looked into a room... and dozens of lifeless glass eyes stared back at them, the room being filled with shelves, on which sat hundreds of lifelike 1' tall dolls. "Weird" said Elena. "And somewhat freaky too, lets look elsewhere", agreed the paladin as he closed the door again.

Meanwhile downstairs the others, having explored the dining room and found only a hole in the ceiling, a gold necklace oddly nailed to the wall in the room above glimpsed through the hole being the only thing of interest they pressed on with their search. The kitchen proved to be coated in rust coloured mold and vines were growing in through the windows. Seeing nothing of interest save a set of stairs leading up, they carried on in a roughly counter-clockwise sweep of the wing, finding an old menagerie filled with cages and a very odd dollhouse, built like a cage. Walking into the cloakroom Jebodiah was blasted with fire from another trap, and as he got over being singed, so Gylippus spotted and disarmed yet another trap in the next room, allowing the group to search it in safety, recovering a silver humidor and a superb smoking pipe, both in good condition and worth a fair bit.

Upstairs, things were not going so well, as the pirate and the paladin had opened the doors into the Master Bedroom and burst inside, only for a heavy hempen net to drop from the ceiling. Thols narrowly avoided getting snared in it, but Elena was good and pinned down as four ceramic pots dropped also, each releasing a large scorpion, which starved and desperate, attacked the pair instantly. Though they were eventually able to beat them, especially once Elena pulled herself out from under the net and got into the fray, the pair took many cuts from the beasts claws, and Elena was stung several times, though she shrugged off the effects of the poison easily enough.

They then searched the room and its adjoining chambers, which turned out to be a ladies dressing room and a never used childs room, with oddly enough a single burning candle still alight in the centre of it. They then forced their way into the locked room, and found an ancient skeleton sat at a desk, no doubt the remains of Hezekiel Wolf himself. Finding nothing of interest in the room, they left the body sat in his chair and lastly went to explore the upper level of the library.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirteen (Part 2)*

The group downstairs had by now decided to catch up to the two other party members and so headed back to the kitchen to take the stairs in there up to the above level. With Jebodiah in the lead the group trooped into the kitchen, and the floor gave way. Zamtap, who was just behind the dwarf managed to throw himself clear and the rest were far enough back to not be affected by the cave in, but the dwarf plumetted down into the cellars below, landing in a large net and creating an unholy din as tied to the underside of the net were dozens if not hundreds of pots and pans, all banging together now with the dwarfs struggles to get himself free.

Peering down into the deep hole that had appeared, the others could hear the racket from below, and barely make out the dwarf, the noise from below suddenly growing more desperate as Jebodiah could see what the others could not. To which, Ki dropped his everburning torch down the hole on  a rope, and illuminated the enormous Cobra that had reared up from the floor under the net and was attacking the barbarian. To his credit, Jebodiah struggled free of the net quickly and dropped down to the ground, drawing Stormcleaver and looking the massive snake in the eye. "Big egg, big snake, righto", he muttered and promptly set about doing what he does best, killing things with extreme prejudice. Helped some by Aeron unleashing magic missiles at the creature, this was mainly the dwarfs fight, and though he took a few bites, the serpents venom had no effect on him, and he handily bested the snake, to be met with a round of applause from Ki, Zamtap and Gylippus who had slid down a rope to the cellar, but stayed to one side.

Having heard the cacophonous sound of the pots and pans banging down below, even from upstairs, Elena and Thols glanced at one another and sighed, and headed back towards the rest of the group to see what had befallen their comrades this time. Aeron joined the others down in the cellar, and they looked around, seeing plenty of muck and bones, as well as a really big dead snake and one way out of the room, up a small set of steps. Gylippus went first, and without looking where he was going, as he snagged another tripwire and closed a portcullis behind him, seperating him from the group. Just then two Histachii emerged from a side tunnel on his side of the portcullis and advanced towards him, tongues flicking over fangs, claws outstretched.

Glancing about, Gylippus saw the lever for the portcullis and heaved on it, to no avail, it was too heavy for him to move and he drew his rapier, backing into a corner beside a sloping water chute that ran from a wheeled capstan in the room he was in, down into darkness. As he battled one of the beasts, so the other went to the portcullis and attacked Jebodiah through it with claws, as the dwarf had been shaking the grate trying to move it. Ki drew his crossbow, Zamtap drew Aerons crosbow and Aeron drew a wand and started casting, conjuring a giant bee on the other side of the barrier to harry the broodguards, immediately starting on summoning another.

Gylippus though was not faring well, and staggered from his wounds, seeing the chute as his only chance at staying alive, he threw himself into it and slid down it some way falling into a large copper kettle, muchly encrusted with salt. He groaned as he looked up and saw on a walkway beside the chute, looking down at him the imposing forms of three hulking creatures, an oriental man clad in black and red, and another figure who could only be Esau Enoch himself!

*DM's Notes:*

Yep, stinker of a cliffhanger to leave the session on! I'm actually impressed we got through so much this week, especially considering that I had completely forgotten to get any prep done for the session, so this was very much "fly by the seat of my pants" mode. Still I have a good adventure to run the session from, though in my version the house has traps, not malicious jermlaine playing pranks on the PC's.

A note to explain the absence of Noob from recent sessions, Mark who plays him has unfortunately gone and gotten himself stuck on all the late friday shifts at the store where he works from now till Xmas. He should be back in the New Year. I'll probably have to toss a solo adventure his way or something to account for the xp difference. In game, we are explaining that while the others are tackling the house Noob is stalking the grounds to make sure the party can get away if they have too. I'm sure I can throw a few nasties his way that he'd encounter out there to catch him up to the others.


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## Brakkart

No session this week as with Mark/Noob already out of the group for the time being, both Richard/Thols and Gareth/Zamtap had let me know that they couldn't make it. Considering where we left off, and the big fight that the group are about to get into, it would have been crazy to run the session with just 5 of the group (especially considering the dire straits that Gylippus is in), so I called it off for this week.

Hopefully we can all make it next week.


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## Brakkart

Well as it happens we couldn't all make it this week, because I couldn't. Got struck down by one hell of a headache that came out of nowhere and I just had to sleep to try and get over it. To my players who waited at the Games Club for me to show up for more than an hour, I humbly apologise for not sewnding notice, I wasn't thinking rationally on my home with this, I just wanted the pain to stop.

There is no Games Club open now till January so I guess we'll reconvene in the New Year and pick up where we left off (hopefully). Once again, sorry.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Fourteen*

Figuring that silence was the better part of valour (or at least his best chance at staying live) Gylippus played dead, and amazingly it worked, Alarmed at the prospect of more adventurer types being righht behind the one who had fallen into the pot, and concerned for the wellbeing of his own genius, Esau fled the room, shouting at the oriental man (who he referred to as Shan) to follow him, and for the Megalomen to kill the intruders. One lumbered to the edge of the pot and gazed down at Gylippus, who duly held his breath and lay still, confusing the lumbering thing, which loped off with its fellows towards where the others were battling the Histachii.

Jabodiah was joined by Ki and the pair between them grunted and strained to try and move the portcullis, but to no avil, all the while suffering as the Histachii attacked them through the bars, raking them with their claws. Aeron summoned bees with a wand, to harry the snakemen but to little effect, and Zamtap did his best to patch up the wounds suffered by the dwarf with his healing wand, but he decided he must have bought a defective one, as each used spell had so little effect. It was then that Thols and Elena arrived, sliding down the rope to join their fellows in the cellar, and the constant delay in getting to help Gylippus (and the attacks from the Histachii) caused Jebodiah to lose his temper, draw Stormcleaver and annihilate the gate in a fierce blow, the axe chopping through the iron grille and freeing the group to surge forwards and press their advantage of numbers.

Even as the group broke through though and started driving back the Histachii, so the Megalomen pulled themselves up the water chute and launched into the fray with their great clubs, smashing into Jebodiah and Elena. Aeron summoned another bee to slow a third Megaloman down and then resorted to a favourite spell, dropping a couple of electric loops on the hapless brutes, stunning one and injuring the others. Whilst large and vicious, the Megalomen were horribly outnumbered and outclassed and were swiftly dealt with by the group.

A search of their bodies yielded no valuables to Zamtap's digust, and whilst he was doing that, the rest strung a rope together, tying it to the capstan in the room they were in and they used that to walk down the water chute without sliding, and managed to get Gylippus out of the pot and heal him up. Continuing through the cellars, the party headed down a corridor and were almost through it without incident when Thols and Jebodiah at the front triggered a tripwire, and the front four party members were showered in a fussilade of darts. Elena at the very back of the party just grinned.

The party found themselves in a large keg cellar, filled withg many barrels and casks, and two enormous barrels on a tilter system which Elena activated by climbing on top of the one with a hatch in the top of it, causing it to sink and the other to rise. The group groaned as they head liquid pour from the higher barrel into the lower, and not just any liquid, acidic poison! A search of the room yielded nothing, except a pulley system that was missing chains. Realising that the chains they need were likely in the cellar across the other side of the house, several of the party went to fetch some.

 As they were doing that Elena explored the side tunnel; the Histachii had emerged from, finding a dead end with a ladder in it. She shrugged and headed up... and up... and up some more until she found herself at the end of the ladder, in pitch blackness, clearly far above ground level by how many steps up she had taken to get there. Finding nothing, and thoroughly confused as to why anyone would build such a tall ladder only for it to lead nowhere, she headed back and rejoined the others.

Gylippus was easily able to find which chain the pulley needed, though the others insisted on helping anyway, and brought along several other chains, just in case they were needed. With the pulley fixed, they were able to lift the now very heavy barrel filled with acid and listened as it drained back into the other barrel without a hatch. With the barrel raised, they looked inside to see a hidden doorway and a tunnel beyond it. Heading down the tunnel, which weaved a bit, the group walked right into a lightning trap, it electrocuting more than half the group and causing them to pull back.

Not to be put off by a little shock, Thols and Elena charged down the corridor, getting another zapping and carried straight on past the trap and further into the cellars, following a long twisting tunnel. The rest of the group waited as Gylippus searched to find what activated the tra, intending to disarm it. Heading on along the corridor, and leaving the others far behind, the paladin and the pirate came upon an underground garden lit by sunlight pouring through a crack in the ceiling, and two men amidst the greenery and pillars, one clearly dead from a gushing head wound, the other babbling on about how he made himself... at least that is what Elena saw, Thols however, saw a laboratory out of his owrst nightmares, with dissecting tables smeared in blood, six huge glass tubes in which floated gestating Megalomen, and tubes, vials and other equipment everywhere. The same two men were there though, and he shot the clearly mad one, it looking at them, and they looking at Esau Enoch as he drew a scimitar, the blade glowing black, and launched himself at them.

The others were still waiting for Gylippus to dismantle the trap and grew impatient, ordering the rogue to pull back as they copied Elena and Thols tactic, heading onwards to catch up with the front runners of the group. Gylippus decided to have another go at disarming the trap and neatly did just that, strolling on afterwards, in no particular hurry to catch up. In the lab/garden, the battle was fierce, as the unholy scimitar wielded by the snakeman dealt grevious wounds to Thols and Elena, quickly eviscerating the paladin and dropping him and then doing a similarly brutal job on the lady pirate, even as Ki and Jebodiah arrived. The dwarf charged forwards, as Ki made an attempt to save Thols' life with a potion, putting himself in harms way to do so. While Jebodiah was not terribly effective, he distracted Esau long enough for Elena to pull herself back to her feet and run him through, she then collapsing again next to the Yuan-ti from the strain of her heroic last ditch attempt.

Aeron and Zamtap meanwhile had been close on the heels of the dwarf and monk, but Zamtap spotted a tunnel that was cloaked in illusion along the way. Pointing this out to Aeron the pair agreed that their comrades were more important and rushed on, but made sure to note just where the hidden tunnel was. They headed into the central room, both of them seeing the garden instead of the truth, as had Ki and Jebodiah before them.

*DM's Notes:*

I really enjoyed this session, was a good mix of combat, puzzle solving and traps (I like traps). All in all a pretty good return to the campaign after more than a month's hiatus. I didn't even get any aggro over having cancelled the last session (though the white chocolate choc ices I bribed the group with might have something to do with that!). Though the main villain of this chapter is down, Wolfhill House still has quite a few susrprises left in store for the Party With No Name, as they'll find out next week!

I was disapointed that Mark/Noob didn't show up, as him missing the past few sessions was down to working the late friday shift in the run up to xmas. With that done, I was hoping he would be back at the table. Will have to ask now whether he will be able to continue with the campaign.


----------



## williem-de'bloodie

*elena morninstal*

here is the tale of elena morninstal


Elena Mornin'Stal was unbeknownst to her born in the port city of Waterdeep on the Sword Coast.
Born to a loving family that consisted of her father, mother and older brother. Her father Er'il was a simple merchant that dealt in fine silks and furs. Er'il had met Elena's mother Virani when they were both young and had married soon after. A couple winter's after the marriage Virani was with child, Virani gave birth to a baby boy they named Joach in the summer of the following year.  The Mornin'Stal family business thrived for years with Er'il gaining customers up and down the Sword Coast.

In the fall following Joach's 14th birthday Virani revealed to her husband and son that she was again with child.
Elena Mornin'Stal was born under the pale moonlight of the first gibbous moon that summer.
Elena spent the next 4 years growing up in the Mornin'Stal house in Waterdeep. Just before her fifth birthday Er'il and Virani along with their young daughter Elena boarded a merchant vessel from Waterdeep bound for Athkatla in Amn. The Mornin'Stal's were hoping to move their trading business down to Athkatla and were sailing down to look at warehouses and houses.
Joach was left in Waterdeep to keep the business going.
Fortune however did not shine on the Mornin'Stal family as the 2nd night of the voyage the ship was boarded by pirates.

The crew of the merchant vessel were slaughtered by the half-orc pirates led by their captain a human known only as Kral.
after all resistance had been quelled on the merchant vessal, Kral had the captured passengers that included the Mornin'Stal's lined up on the deck of the pirate ship 'FarDale'.
Kral inspected his prisoners upon spying Elena, Kral lifted her and instructed his 1st mate Mogweed to take the child to his cabin.
Upon this command Er'il tried to stop Mogweed but Kral drew his cutlass in the blink of an eye and felled Er'il with one blow piercing Er'il's lung from behind he died in a puddle of his own blood.
Kral declared the rest of the prisoners would make fine slaves and had them taken below deck in shackles and manacles.

Kral returned to his cabin where Elena stood on his bed looking out a porthole fascinated by the ocean and her mysteries.
"child" Kral said addressing Elena. Elena turned to face the dirty looking man with one eye that stood before her. "My name is Kral, Can you tell me your name child?", Elena looked into Kral's eye and said "My name is Elena Mornin'Stal, Mr Kral. Is this your boat?".
Kral stood before  Elena for a few moments before saying "This is my boat, I call it FarDale. You can stay on the ship with me if you wish and sail the oceans?" Elena's eyes lit up and she nodded up and down. Then she returned to the porthole. 
Elena spent the next fourteen years growing up as a pirate, over this time she learnt all the skill's needed to operate a ship. Over the years the crew of the Fardale changed many times, Mogweed took command of his own boat the Si'lura. together Kral and Mogweed operated from the Nelanther Isles.
Working together the two captains had much success in piracy.
Elena learnt how to fight with both longbow and cutlass with many lessons from both Kral and Mogweed over the years.
Whilst on the highseas or in the hidden pirate ports of the Nelanther Isles Elena continued to grow and bloom into an attractive young woman.
Early in the fourteenth summer Elena spent on the Fardale, Kral who by now was getting older and thinking of retiring from his life as a pirate when he decided to hire a Cleric in the hope's of gaining a god's favour.
The Cleric that Kral hired was a young water Genasi woman no more than a few winters older than Elena. Nee'lahn was the name that the Cleric went by and she served and followed the deity known as Valkur, the god of sailors, ships, favourable winds and naval combat.
Nee'lahn and Elena quickly became friends and Nee'lahn began to teach Elena the ways of a Cleric of Valkur.
It was around this time that the Si'lura was attacked by a rival pirate ship under the command of a Orc called Skaaag who had been losing out to both the Fardale and the Si'lura whose ships were swifter and pulled many coup's on the Orc ship's.
Skaaag had had enough and banded together with three other Orc vessels in order to capture and destroy the Si'lura and Fardale.
The details of what happened where a little vague but news soon reached the ears of Kral that the Si'lura had been sunk with all hands apart from Mogweed whose battered and broken form had been chained to the bow of Skaaag's ship 'OathBreaker'.
Elena, Kral and Nee'lahn were enraged over what had befallen their comrade. Kral was constantly on the verge of berserking, so the running of the Fardale and the rescue plan was left to Elena, Who had recently made 1st mate after the previous occupant of the post was lost in a confrontation at sea with one of the orc ships.
Elena instructed Nee'lahn to find out where the OathBreaker laid anchor.
Within the next moon word returned to the Fardale that the OathBreaker had been spotted in the port city of Murann in southern Amn.
Elena set sail for Murann that day determined to save her friend. It took only three days to reach Murann as Fardale seemed to have favourable winds behind his sails.  Elena brought the ship to port but found no sign of the Oathbreaker, dishearted Elena, Nee'lahn and Kral went ashore to find a tavern and try to raise their spirits.
As the companions approached a tavern Kral put his arms around his two female friends and pulled them close then whispered "we're being followed Elena you know what to do?". Elena winked with a wicked smile and nodded.  
Upon entering the tavern Elena left Kral's side and disappeared into the crowd, Kral and Nee'lahn continued towards the bar. Kral leaned against the bar the subtle form of the young water genasi close beside him, Elena shadowed a large man near the door keeping his body between herself and anyone who came through the door.
The tavern door creaked open, pushed firmly from the street. Kral kept his eyes on the door,     a craggy looking man wearing a hooded cloak stepped through the door flanked by four large hooded figures that Kral guessed were half-orc's from the Oathbreaker left in Murann incase the Fardale came to port. The craggy man approached Kral and Nee'lahn, he stopped in front of Kral, the craggy man was a good foot shorter than the old pirate. He raised his head and looked straight into Kral's eyes saying "the captain has requested your presence old man, don't bother trying to resist there's more help outside waiting for if you don't come quietly." 
Kral looked slightly to his side where Nee'lahn stood with a worried look on her face. "I'll come put she goes free" Kral said motioning to Nee'lahn.
The craggy man smiled "I don't think you understand kral, the captain wants the presence of both you and your firstmate here so she's coming"
"elena" Kral said softly the name sliding out of his throat to be drowned out by the ambient noise of the busy tavern.
The craggy man led Kral and Nee'lahn out of the tavern escorted by his half-orc companions, once out in the street they were joined by four more hooded half-orcs. Kral and Nee'lahn had their hands locked into manacles and the half-orcs started to march them towards the docks.
Elena watched what had befallen her friends from a darkened alleyway at the side of the tavern. As they were marched away Elena swore under her breath and stated to trail her friends and their captor's as closely as she dared to.
The Fardale had been docked at the fringes of the docks away from other ships to lesson the chances of it being spotted as a pirate ship, but now there were two larger vessels docked there as well one either side of the Fardale. Kral and Nee'lahn were marched onto the larger of the two ships, as Elena drew closer to it she recognised it as the OathBreaker.
Elena knew things were bad, her captain and best friend were in manacles being taken aboard the Oathbreaker, her own ship the Fardale was deserted not a soul could be seen on deck and even worse she was essentially unarmed apart from her throwing dagger that was tucked tighly in it's sheath strapped to the small of her back.
Elena knelt on the side of the docks staring at the three ships said a prayer and dropped quickly yet quietly into the dark water  disappearing from sight of anyone who may of been able to see her.
About ten minutes later a small hand appeared from the ocean and grasped ahold of the anchor chain of the Fardale, a second later another hand rose from the depths to grasp the chain a little higher, Elena slowly pulled herself from the ocean and up the anchor. She continued to climb hand over hand until she reached the deck, Elena held the chain tightly in one hand then with her free hand reached behind herback and unsheathed her throwind dagger. With the dagger clenched between her teeth Elena slowly pulled her head over the side of the deck and looked around the deck, there was no-one in sight, Elena swung herself onto the deck.
Keeping crouched Elena slowly made her way way towards the hatch that led below deck. Elena was ten foot away from the hatch when it swung open  and a shadowed figure stepped out into the pale moonlight.
Elena was in the middle of the deck with no where to dive for cover so she did the only thing left to her, she threw the dagger towards the newcomer. The dagger flew true and struck its target in the throat, blood sprayed in every direction as the figure grasped at his throat and collapsed into the deck.
Elena quickly covered the distance to the fallen figure, it was a large half-orc dressed in fine cloth. Elena pushed the body faceup and let out a gasp of surprise it was Mogweed.
Elena dashed through the hatch to her cabin where she collected her cutlass, longbow and quiver. Back on deck Elena searched Mogweed's body and found a signet ring on his right hand, all the years she'd known him he'd never worn a ring. Elena placed the ring onto her thumb as it wouldn't fit her small fingers.
Elena climbed the rigging and found a loose rope, she swung to to rigging of the neighbouring Oathbreaker. From here Elena used the rigging to scout the ship, looking for a way to save her friends.
The Oathbreaker was a large warship and had been modified by Skaaag over the years, Elena had Skaaag to thank for the ropes connecting mast to mast. It was as Elena arrived on the main mast that she spotted a gathering below.
Below Elena could see Kral held by a half-orc with a Cutlass to his throat, there were four more half-orcs gathered nearby. a bulky orc presumably Skaaag stood by the plank as the craggy man edged Nee'lahn, who still wore manacles closer to the edge of the plank. Elena strained her eyes to see more clearly, what she saw were weights tied to Nee'lahn's feet. Elena found firm footing and drew her bow, pulling an arrow ready, she took aim at the craggy man and released her arrow.
The arrow hit with a thud into the craggy man's back  and he stumbled forward into Nee'lahn, both falling overboard with a great splash.
Kral's guard was momentarily distracted by the splash and turned his head to look, but Kral had seen the arrow hit and knew what to do.
In the second the guard turned slightly, Kral feinted slightly to his left bending his knees ever so slighty so that the cutlass now pointed over his shoulder. Sliding a half-step forward Kral brought his powerful arms up one on either side of his guards arm, this was done with such force that there was an audible crunch as the half-orc guard's forearm broke. Kral dropped to the deck to retreive the cutlass from where it had fallen. Elena's second arrow flew through the now strangely serene air aboard the Oathbreaker and struck hard in the half-orc guard's head, The guard faltered a step forward and then collapsed sideways. 
Skaag screamed something in orcish that Elena didn't understand, then blew a horn that he wore at his side. Elena looked down to see three of the half-orcs start towards the bottom of the rigging, each had drawn a heavy curved knife that Elena recognised on sight as kukri. "Oh great" Elena said as she drew another arrow from her quiver.
Kral found himself facing off against the remaining half-orc and Skaaag, the half-orc was weilding a large rusty mace and Skaag had drawn his crossbow and was maneuvering to get a clear shot at Kral. Kral stepped forward quickly with an upward slash toward the half-orc, who parryed the blow with his mace. However kral had expected the blow to be parryed and kicked the half-orc square between the legs, the half-orc let out a low moan and dropped to one knee. Elena released her arrow in a shot staight down the rigging to the nearest half-orc, the lead half-orc on the rigging had turned to his shipmates and said "lets make her our whore before we gut her" as his head turned back to face his intended victim, her arrow hit him in his right eye the force of the blow knocked him off the rigging towards the deck below.  A heavy thump behind him caused Kral to turn his attention slightly from the crossbow wielding Skaaag, who took the slip in concentration as his opening and fired the bolt from the crossbow towards Kral.
The two remaining half-orcs closed the distance between them and Elena at an alarming rate, Elena grabbed one of the decking ropes and lept from the rigging as the lead half-orc slashed where her foot had just been. Kral drove his cutlass swiftly through the torso of his stunned opponent, Skaaag's crossbow bolt hit Kral in his upper right thigh causeing him to wince and step back. Elena swung down onto the decking near where Nee'lahn had been, and drew her own cutlass, Elena turned to find the two remaining half-orcs already on the decking headed towards her.
As Skaaag reloaded the crossbow, Kral lumbered towards him pointing his cutlass and hurling abuse. Elena charged the two half-orcs which surprised them, she managed to run one through, but the other slashed her arm as she passed. Skaaag gave up on loading the crossbow, threw it to the ground and unsheathed his axe. Kral stopped near Skaaag and stood as staight as he could on his injured leg, and faced off against his foe.
Elena tumbled across the decking and came to rest in a kneeling guard her cutlass held before her, blood had begun to run down her arm from her wound. The remaining half-orc stalked manacingly towards Elena, the blooded Kukri held out before him.
Kral raised his cutlass high to fend off the overhead swing of Skaags axe, but the force of the Orc's blow caused Kral to fall backwards on his injured leg. Elena saw Kral fall past the form of the advancing half-orc, enraged Elena rolled forward closing the distance between herself and the would-be assailant. Coming out of the roll Elena thrust her cutlass upwards and drove it through the bottom of the half-orcs jaw right up into the brain.
Movement from the gangway drew Kral's attention, his eyes flicked sideways to see five more orcs boarding the Fardale, most likely in response to the blown horn. As Elena stood to start to the aid of her fallen captain, Kral shouted 'get out of here girl you'll only die as well if you stay, live to avenge us.......................go!'. Elena took a second to compose herself then ran to the railing and dived over into the awaiting darkness of the ocean.
That was the night that the Ogre mages attacked Murann supported by their own minions and the Nelanther pirates, who were being guided by Skaaag.
Elena spent the following three months sneaking out of the now occupied Murann, and headed to Athkatla, the journey was hard on the young Elena and she only survived by hunting game with her bow. Upon reaching Athkatla Elena spent three days and nights in a tavern recuperating from her arduous*(not sure on spellin) journey. After the first few days in the tavern Elena found she only had five gp's left in her purse and set about finding a job. As luck would have it Elena found a position on a cargo ship called the Midnight Sun, as the ships cleric. Her studies under her friend Nee'lahn seemed to have paid off. Elena worked on the Midnight Sun for the next year and a half, travelling up and down the sword coast to various ports including Baldurs gate and Waterdeep. Always keeping her ears open in the taverns hoping to find word of the Fardale or the Oathbreaker, but heard nothing.
Hoping to gain more information Elena left the service of the Midnight Sun back in Athkatla, but after a couple months and no word Elena found herself in need of a job again.
The morning Elena was going to head down to the port in search of work, a merchant entered the tavern in which she had been staying and put up a poster advertising for brave adventurers to help guard their caravan of goods as it was transported from Athkatla to Baldurs Gate. Seeing this as possibly an easy job with the potential for her to shoot some game on the journey Elena signed up and was asked to meet at the merchants warehouse the following morning.
upon her arrival Elena found the caravan was to be accompanied by some of Athkatla's soldiers, luckily Elena wasn't the only brave soul to have signed up and she befriended the other adventurers on the road. 
They were: 
Aeron Greycastle an air Genasi wizard
Gylippys a human wizard/rogue
Ki Tendragion a human monk
Noob Saibot a human ranger
and Zamtap a human cleric of Gond.


writer's note:
i have taken names for people and ships from james clemens series of books the banned and the bannished as i had just finished reading the series and had all the names running thru my head.
the series is great and worth reading


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Fifteen*

After a few minutes of looking around and interacting with their environment (not to mention Thols patiently explaining that the garden was an illusion), the rest of the group were eventually able to see the laboratory in all it's grisly detail and they set about dismantling it in one way or another. While Gylippus and Aeron set about making sure that the gestating Megalomen in the six large cylinders never came to be "born", Elena sifted about through the various cabinets and drawers, looking for anything that might be useful and finding a leather bound journal.

Gathering the others around, she read out what she could understand of its contents, as much of it was taken up by bizarre formulae and diagrams. The journal contained a diary of sorts, penned by Esau Enoch himself (which wasn't hard to figure out, the scientist referring to himself a couple times in his own writings), which detailed just what had been going on at Wolfhill House. The reading did not make for good news as the group found out that the results of Esau's research, (how to create quick growing super strong Megalomen clones) had already been sent to Hlondeth and Serpentes months ago. 

The group also realised that the "Esau" they had just beaten, and the dead Shan Hsi on the lab floor were the more common variety of clones. Which would explain "Esau's" mad ranting about having made itself when it cutting Elena and Thols to ribbons. the party looted what they could from the laboratory, but it became clear that their intended prey had escaped, likely with the help of the as yet unseen Domino mentioned in the journal as being Esau's wizardly lover.

Realizing the true scale of the threat they faced, the group set about exploring the side tunnels that Zamtap had seen, finding several more cloaked in illusion but just empty chambers, until walking down one side tunnel, the party stumbled straight into a barracks of Megalomen. At the front of the group and with eyes going wide at the sight a half dozen of the brutish creatures, including a couple real monsters ofthe type, Gylippus did what any good hero doesn't... namely fled back down the corridor, pushing his way past the others in the group who due to being in single file were not yet sure of what was going on.

A matter that was soon clarified when one of the massive third generation Megalomen lumbered into the corridor and smashed Zamtap to the ground in one blow. Hastily retreating down the corridor (and dragging the bleeding form of Zamtap with them) the party formed up behind Jebodiah, and then traded talk with the Megalomen's leader, the Yuan-ti Sissiska who was bitter at having been left behind when Esau, Domino and Shan teleported away. Still he was in no mood to surrender and battered as the party were and facing nearly an equal number of foes, they were in no position to take the fight to him, each group holding their place at their end of the corridor and shouting to one another.

After a few minutes of this standoff, Gylippus suggested a retreat out of the cellar and for them to dismantle the aparatus with the barrels, so as to seal the Yuan-ti and his troops down here under the house. Jebodiah was keen to fight, but the others weren't and the dwarf was reluctantly forced to go along with the plan, the party backing off and leaving the deeper cellars, and then removing the chains from the winch mechanism that allowed the barrels to move. With that done, they headed back up to the house and camped in the main bedroom for the night, figuring it to be a readily defensible location. They were not disturbed.

*DM's Notes:*

Well this week went very well, the group found the journal that gives them the clues they need to pursue the Yuan-ti plot for months of campaign time to come, and Tony's reaction to the journals contents was certainly fun to listen too ("Ohh this is bad", "This is REALLY bad" etc). Too thanks to a lengthy session of dishing out the experience points gained during the groups battles through the house over the past few sessions (which I held back till after they had completed the house, their entire attack taking place in one day afterall, which is no small feat!), everyone gained a level (well except Noob who still wasn't here, but I've received assurance that he will be next session).

Thus ends Chapter Two of the campaign. The group now have to battle their way back through the Poison Dusk tribe, return to Waterdeep and alert the powers that be to just what the snakemen are up too.


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## Brakkart

*Player Handout: Esau Enoch's Journal*

The group found this diary in his laboratory in session fifteen. I have posted it here in it's entirety as following the plot thread for those reading this and not at my table might be a bit difficult if they were not able to read it.

*1370DR*

*Mirtul 7th*

	I have received word today that my services are needed once again in Faerûn. Not before time too, I am heartily sick of these jungles in Kara-Tur, though some good has come of the past few years spent here. I have gained myself a worthy companion and bodyguard in Shan Hsi, a disgraced assassin of these strange lands. I must make haste back west to Hlondeth.

*Uktar 17th*

	After months of travel across the Endless Wastes, and then the Inner Sea, I finally arrived in the City of Serpents. Only to be handed a message, and bundled onto a caravan bound for the Sword Coast. Not at all what I was expecting. I have copied the message in full below:

_To the esteemed Esau Enoch

	My apologies for not greeting you in person on your arrival in Hlondeth, but secrecy is of the utmost concern. Let me explain. A while ago, one of our explorers on the Sword Coast, found an interesting location. The humans call it Wolfhill House, apparently it was built by a nobleman some time ago by the name of Hezekiel Wolf. What the fool did not realise is that he built the house on a knoll that exudes a magical aura. This aura causes things to grow larger. I immediately thought of what use this could be put too, as I am sure you have by now. I am sending along one of my best wizards, her name is Domino. She can help you with the magical side of things, but it is your analytical mind that I feel is best suited to harnessing this aura and figuring out how best to use it to the vrael olo's advantage.

Yours Sincerely

D._

	Well I could hardly refuse, such a challenge lay ahead of me, and my mind is already awhirl with possibilities. As well as the lovely Domino, my benefactor has provided me with a couple retainers, some pets, and all the equipment I will need for a modest laboratory. 


*1371DR*

*Hammer 6th*

	We arrived at this Wolfhill House this morning, the place is falling into serious disrepair. Still, the surrounding swamp is pleasant enough, and should guarantee that I am not disturbed in my work. Shan quickly found an access to the cellars beneath the house, and there is plenty of room down there to set up the laboratory.

*Hammer 7th*

	After investigating the house and its grounds thoroughly, I can write that this places growth aura is considerable in its effects. I have lost several retainers from my company whilst battling the giant spiders we encountered here, and we have decided to leave the giant wasp hive well alone. Still, none infest the cellars, and I have little use for the house itself.

*Hammer 9th*

	We have discovered that the house is infested with annoying jermlaine. These midget terrors harrass us at every opportunity, but I think we are winning in this battle. As many as there are of them, they are no match for Shan and Domino, and the pair have been hunting them to great effect. I doubt there will be any left within a week or two.

*Tarsakh 21st*

	The laboratory is fully assembled, and after a few experiments I have been able to determine that the growth aura only affects things that are still growing. It has no effect at all upon myself and my staff, yet the eggs laid by my pet snakes are larger than usual, and their hatchlings are barely a month old and considerably larger than they should be. This is a worthy challenge for my intellect, we cannot utilise the aura to simply increase the size of our existing servants and creatures. In order to tap the potential here, we must create new life here for it to be affected. Yet to bring in large numbers of our kind to create a viable breeding population would attract too much attention, and invariably alert the authorities in Waterdeep to our presence. I must think further on this.

*Kythorn 2nd*

	I have it. The perfect solution to the problem. If I cannot bring in a population to benefit from the aura, then I shall create one here. I have experimented before with the possibility of cloning using alchemy rather than wizardry. I believe that I can better the efforts of wizards in this regard, and prove that science is superior. To this end I have directed Shan to abduct some travellers off the road that runs around the east of the mere. Humans will provide me with suitable subjects to experiment upon.

*Flamerule 7th*

	I have sent word back to Hlondeth via Domino (having an aide who can teleport is a great help in my work), informing them of my findings, and also of my needs. In order to pursue this line of research, I am going to need great quantities of many ingredients, which are impossible for my cell here to acquire. Too my laboratory as it is, is inadequate to the task ahead. To that end, I have requested the aid of every Viper's Fang cell on the Sword Coast, so that they might procure the needed equipment and ingredients which I need, and ferry them here to my base. Thankfully the river that flows past the house is deep enough to take small ships. I will have my other retainers construct a small jetty there.

*Flamerule 10th*

	Domino returned today, to inform me that my benefactor has agreed to back my ambitious plan, and that word is being sent even now to the various cells to activate them from their dormancy.

*Marpenoth 1st*

	I've done it! I have successfully created a pair of clones from one of the human captives. Not only have I, Esau Enoch, managed to create life, but by alchemy I have solved the problem that has plagued wizards. My clones are not consumed with the desire to destroy one another, so it is possible to make many copies of a single individual. Too, these clones are significantly larger than their "parent". Deliveries have started to arrive at the house now, and my laboratory grows more extensive by the day it seems. Still at the moment, these clones are mere copies of the original, albeit larger. Not of much use as yet. there is still much work to be done. I have had them changed to histachii, they will provide a useful addition to my guards here.

*Marpenoth 15th*

	The house was attacked yesterday by a group of adventurers. There were three of them, and they were woefully unprepared for what they encountered. While one was slain easily, the other two, an Uthgardt tribesman and a woman, fought fiercely before being brought low by a sleep enchantment. They will provide the perfect specimens from which to breed a new strain of clones.

*Marpenoth 17th*

	In light of the recent attack on the house, I have had to distract myself from my experiments to see about bolstering our defences here. To that end I have made contact with the local lizardfolk tribe, who style themselves as "The Poison Dusk". They were impressed with me (and with Domino's command of magic), and have agreed to keep watch over the swamp that surrounds the hill the house is built upon, and thus provide a useful first line of defence. Too, I won't have to be bothered with them getting underfoot in the house itself, as they view the hill as taboo, owing to the large insects that live here. I do so love dealing with primitives!

*Uktar 4th*

	With Domino's help, I have concocted a solution to add into the cloning chamber during the clones creation. Comprised of venom's, herbs and some powedered metals, quicksilver and a few other things it alters the mind and bodies of the forming clone, giving them partial immunity to poisons and rendering their minds more susceptible to control. 

*Nightal 24th*

	After a lot of thought, I have decided to try and clone one of the clones. I am curious to see what the effects would be.


*1372DR*

*Hammer 19th*

	The experiment has produced an interesting result. Not only was cloning the clone a success, but it seems that several effects are magnified. The growth affects the second generation clone just as much as it did the first, producing a creature larger and stronger still, but the effects of the solution upon it are also increased. As far as Domino's tests can tell, this new creature is completely immune to poison, and its mind is even more in thrall to our wills. We celebrated our findings with a writhing. It was exquisite to join with one so close to being my equal in intellect.

*Ches 13th*

	Again the results multiply. A third generation clone is larger, stronger and more obidient than one of the second generation. I have sent this new clone with Domino to Hlondeth, as I am sure that my benefactor is eager to see the results thus far of my work. I am continuing to refine my research and alter the solution. The Viper's Fangs have been a great help to me in my work, I could not have come as far in my research as I have without them supplying me. They have orgaised themselves well, the cells in other cities channel their efforts to Broca House in Baldur's Gate, which in turn then sends the ships to here. I also receive a small stream of supplies from Waterdeep via Carbo Haulliers.

*Ches 15th*

	It seems my benefactor has decided to share the results of my research with more of our kind, namely the vrael olo of House Se'Sehen in Serpentes. I am not overly surprised by this development, as the houses of Se'Sehen and Extaminos have been allies for centuries. Too, those of Serpentes have access to far greater resources than Hlondeth does, especially as most of the ingredients for the solution can be easily harvested from the Black Jungles.

*Mirtul 20th*

	An unexpected and unwanted visitor arrived on todays shipment, Sissiska, a halfblood from Serpentes. No doubt here to check on my progress, as though I need someone to watch over me. It seems that while my benefactor is content to let me get on with my researches, his allies are eager for results that they can use. This could not have been worse timed, as my latest experiment has ended in failure. It would seem that a fourth generation Megalomen (my term for the altered clones), is impossible. While larger and stronger then the third generation, it is virtually mindless and useless to our cause, as it cannot understand instructions given to it.

*Kythorn 11th*

	Domino returned from Hlondeth to report that the cloning there of the third generation Megalomen I sent them was a success. Using my methods, they were able to create a half dozen copies of it, all of which retained the size, strength and other improvements that my research has gifted them. They have passed the information to Serpentes, as well as begun work on enlarging the facilities there, to accomodate the creation of dozens of Megalomen at a time.

*Eleasis 3rd*

	I have made some small improvements to the cloning process. It is possible now to grow a fully adult Megalomen in half a tenday. Sissiska has insisted that I send this information to Serpentes first, and I will have to do so. I cannot afford to make an enemy of the nation he represents.

*Eleasis 14th*

	Domino has spent the past tenday teleporting between here and Ss'inthee'ssaree, transporting Megalomen and equipment, as well as a complete copy of my researches. I know enough to know, that House Se'Sehen will swiftly be able to breed an army of my creations. For too long have human realms prospered on the Chultan peninsula, lands that belong to the vrael olo, and will soon be reconquered.

*Eleint 2nd*

	I have sent word via the last ship to Broca House to cease sending me any more materials. I have directed them now to funnel their gathered supplies towards Hlondeth. I still believe that there is a way to create a viable fourth generation Megaloman, and am intent on remaining here for a while yet to pursue this line of research. Sissiska is staying also, curse him, as is my beloved Domino and the ever loyal Shan. I have enough guards to see off any curious adventurer types who might poke their noses into my work.

	Even should my efforts in this regard fail, I have still succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation. I have delivered to the vrael olo the process for them to create an unlimited number of slave soldiers, stronger, tougher and more tractable than the humans we have always had to rely upon in the past. Humanity's days are numbered!

*Marpenoth 6th*

	I was informed today by an emmissary of the Poison Dusk that a group of human priests and paladins have taken up occupation in the Ruins of Iniarv's Tower, which overlooks the eastern side of the Mere. Presumably they are there to try and deal with the recent attacks on travelers along the High Road, which are not of my groups doing. As far as I know they do not know of our presence here, but they must be regarded as a threat nonetheless, should their efforts to solve the problem of the attacks result in them launching attacks on the Poison Dusk tribe, thus weakening my defences. I have ordered the lizardfolk to keep a close watch on these humans, and to deal with any incursion into the swamp from there.

*Marpenoth 10th*

	I received word today from Waterdeep that the Viper's Fangs cover company in Baldur's Gate, Broca House, has been all but wiped out by the actions of a group of adventurers. Furthermore, there seems to be no trace of the perpetrators within the city, and a search of the House's compound by one of the surviving cultists revealed that both the Houses ledger, and the letter I had sent to "Janesh Broca" were missing. They believe that this same group of adventurers are even now heading northwards towards this house, and me! I have informed Shan and Domino of this impending threat, as well as the Poison Dusk tribe. We have several Megalomen here as well as Histachii. Let them come, we are well ready for them! I have not bothered to inform Sissiska, if they kill him, so much the better!


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## Brakkart

*Aeron Graycastle's History*

Born 5th Tarsakh the Year of the Dragon.

Aeron was not born into happy circumstances, his mother (Jasmal Evenwood) fleeing both civil war in her homeland of Tethyr and the mad wizards lab in which her twin sons were conceived. Hoping to put both problems far behind her she fled to Waterdeep where she supported herself and her sons as a minor hedge wizard before meeting and marrying Ander Graycastle an up and coming member of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors (Waterdeep's Wizards Guild).

This ushered in a much happer period in Aeron and his brother Randal's lives as their mother and step-father were able to nurture their considerable magical gifts that might otherwise have lain fallow. Aeron was particularly facinated with his step-father's air elemental familiar "Amra"

However it could not last as Randal grew envious of Aeron's greater talent and their opposing nature's as earth and air Genasi drove them apart. Eventually Randal left seeking another teacher perhaps another wizard or perhaps simply life.

*Enemies*

Aeron's only specific foe is also his creator (Esau Enoch) who likely is unaware of his existance or emnity, though Aeron dearly wishes him dead for the agony he inflicted on his mother.

*Family*

Aeron's Mother, although scarred by her experiences has largely recovered (but still trains her pet cats and familiar, Anet to kill any snakes they see) and now earns her living as a magical artificer. She slightly favors Randal over Aeron.

His father has contiued to rise in the Order and is dedicated to his work though he also enjoys a good hunting expedition (often using Amra as a spotter for game).Aeron's relationship with his father is slightly warmer due to his pride in his apprentices skill with magic.

Randal, Aeron's brother is an Earth Genasi and also his otherwise identical twin (something that often caused confusion among their fathers friend's), has not been heard from in some time but this is only to be expected due to distance. His knack for Abjuration magic also mitigates the families worry.


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## Brakkart

*The Party With No Name*

Considering that the entire party levelled up last session, here are the updated short stats for the group:

*Mark* Noob Saibot CG Human Ranger2/Rogue3
*Alastair* Gylippus CN Human Rogue3/Wizard3
*Gareth* Zamtap N Human Cleric6 (Gond)
*Dan* Elena Morningstal CG Human Fighter2/Cleric1/Swashbuckler3 (Valkur)
*Phillip* Aeron Greycastle NG Air Genasi Wizard5
*Tony* Ki Tendragion LN Human Rogue3/Monk2 (with a level still to decide)
*Matt* Jebodiah Bugman CG Dwarf Barbarian3/Fighter2
*Richard* Thols Perendhel LG Half-Elf Paladin4/Cleric1 (Torm)

As can be seen from this, it is becoming more obvious where the characters are headed. The prestige classes that I know of that are being aimed towards are:

Jebodiah - Frenzied Berserker
Gylippus - Arcane Trickster
Zamtap - Techsmith
Aeron - Elemental Savant (or at least he was a while back)
Ki - Shadowdancer

I know Elena is planning to just level up through the Swashbuckler class now, and I have no idea what (if any) prestige class Noob and Thols are aiming towards. Aeron asked to use an optional rule from Unearthed Arcana to allow him to pay 4000 XP to buy himself out of the +1 level adustment for Genasi, which I allowed.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Sixteen*

As morning broke, and the party began preparing for the inevitable running battle they would have to fight to break through the lizardfolk tribe around the house, their ranks were bolstered when Noob returned from scouting out the grounds with nothing to report. Having armed and armoured themselves, spells ready in minds and blades and bows in hand, the party set forth from the wrecked house, making their way to where the ruined gatehouse used to stand and then out onto the narrow winding causeway through the murky waters and muddy islands of the mere.

To the groups surprise they were not intially assaulted, and their trek through the swamp went unchallenged for a few hours, before Ki suddenly saw shapes in the water to either side of the causeway and called out a warning to his comarades... a little too late, as the Poison Dusk emerged from the waters of the swamp all around and launched a volley of arrows into the group, targeting Jebodiah in particular. It was then, that a large lizardman emerged onto the causeway some way ahead and bellowed out:

"Give us the dwarf and the rest can pass in peace. I seek only to avenge the death of my son at his hands"

With this in mind, and a momentary lull in hostilities, the group took advantage of the situation and cast spells of protection on as many of themselves as they could, both Gylippus and Aeron rendering themselves immune to missile attacks, while Zamtap cast a prayer to bolster the groups effectiveness. Considering this to be a violation of the offer of peace, (as the lizardfolk lacked any spellcasters with them and thus had no idea what the spells were for), they resumed their attacks, launching volleys of arrows at the group, as they then started to push their way forwards towards the obvious chieftain.

Jebodiah for his part, shouted back that he accepted the chieftain's challenge to combat, and ran to meet him, the lizardfolk not shooting him, lest they incur the wrath of their liege who wanted a fair fight. By bow and blade the group surged down the causeway, the dwarf in the lead, picking off the Poison Dusk left and right, Noob tagging along at the back of the group, ensuring that none remained behind where the main bulk of the group had passed to harry them from the rear.

The others launched arrows, bolts and spells at the other members of the tribe, who harried them with missile fire in return from nearby islands, or they fended off the claws of the scaly people who had swam up to the causeway to engage them in melee. All the while, behind the chieftain stood a muscular figure with a snakes head and scaled skin, Sissiska, having escaped during the night from the cellar the group had confined him too and wanting revenge. With his large bow, he pumped thick shafted arrows into several of the group, in particular Elena, who waded through the water to get at him and engage the halfblood in battle with her cutlass.

Running to meet the chieftain, Jebodiahs legs could not carry him quite far enough to land the first blow, which went to his opponent, who skewered him with his longspear. The battle was brief, and while the dwarf fought well, his axe carving a great slice across the lizardmans abdomen, the teeth and claws of the chieftain (and an arrow that Ki had aimed at Sissiska, but which ended in Jebodiah's back), proved superior and the barbarian fell at the chieftains feet... only for Thols to intervene and lay healing on his bleeding body.

Rising back up, Jebodiah roared out and cut the chieftain down in a rain of blood, victorious in combat, though angry that the others had intervened in his fight. Rushing forwards to aid Elena, Thols added his armed might to the task of bringing down Sissiska. Aeron helping also by summoning a celestial bee to harass him, and the villain was quickly dispatched. At the loss of their leader and the snakeman also, the remaining Poison Dusk fled back into the Mere, leaving the group free to continue onwards and put the swamp behind them.

Not long after nightfall, the group returned to Iniarv's Tower and made a report of their findings to Sir Justin Melenikus, who after reading through the journal they were carrying agreed that this was information that shoulkd be brought to the attention of Lord Peirgeiron Paladinson in Waterdeep as soon as possible. Too for clearing out a lair of Yuan-ti, and wiping out a good number of the lizardfolk in the area, he issued a credit note for 1000 gold pieces, redeemable at the Merchants Guild in Waterdeep. Taking up his offer of a place to stay the night, the party rested in one of the retored buildings in the towers courtyard and slept soundly.

*DM's Notes:*

Yeah, this was "Run the Gauntlet: The Inevitable Sequel." I had so much fun the first time around that there had to be another go at it. The party had a considerably easier time of it this time though, and in retrospect I really should have had some shamans in the Poison Dusk's ranks. It was a fun way to start Chapter Three of the campaign and since I won't be getting to run another game like this for quite some time/if ever again, in this campaign, was good that the PC's got a chance at delivering some payback to the tribe who shot them up so badly getting into Wolfhill House.

And it was VERY nice to have my entire group together again for the first time in months, welcome back Mark!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Seventeen*

Waking on Marpenoth 23rd, the group took breakfast with Sir Justin and his Watchers of Helm, it largely consisting of a thick and almost tasteless porridge, which everyone ate, but which Jebodiah was to complain about for the rest of the day! Before leaving Iniarv's Tower, Zamtap left behind his pistol and supply of smokepowder and bullets with Sir Justin, as Thols had explained in no uncertain terms that such items were deemed illegal in Waterdeep and that he would have to answer for having brought them into the city on his last visit there. Saddling up, the group bade their farewells, and rode out onto the High Road, headed south at all due haste for Waterdeep. The day passed uneventfully, and just before dusk they rode into the fortress-enclave of Thornhold, overlooking the southern tip of the Mere of Dead Men. Paying to stay the night at the Inn within the walls.

Before setting back out along the road to Waterdeep on the next day, Thols invested some of his coin in buying a Tower Shield, while Jebodiah traded in the battered steel shield he had acquired from one of the suits of armour in Wolfhill house for a few extra gold pieces in his purse.

Only a few hours after leaving Thornhold behind them, the group spotted a dark shape in the sky, diving towards them, and as they were on a narrow part of the road, cliffs on one side, a sheer drop to the sea on the other, they elected to dismount to fight the oncoming threat, which as it closed could be clearly identified as a Chimera! Swooping down on the party as they hurriedly dismounted, it spewed a line of acid to engulf Thols and Jebodiah at the head of the party, the dwarf avoiding the worst of it, but his pony badly hurt and bolting away down the road, leaving him without a mount. Thols took the full brunt of the acid though, but it was the dwarf who the creature barelled into, heads, horns and claws tearing at him as he valiantly battled the twisted monsters onslaught.

Seeing the danger, Aeron coolly targeted the beast and enfeebled it, Zamtap following suit with a prayer to boost the groups tenacity, whilst further hampering just how lethal the creature could be. Whilst Noob did his best to avoid direct combat, the creature brought the battle to him, blasting another line of acod into him and beyond him, Aeron, the genasi neatly sidetepping most of the vile tide, whislt the ranger was bathed thoroughly in it. Thols launched himself into the fray to give the creature another target to hit besides Jebodiah, but as inured as he was, had to see to healing himself before he could aid the beleaguered dwarf in killing the thing, and try as he might Ki just could not seem to get past its scaly hide. As the creatures attacks began to take a toll, so Zamtap cast a spell to give many of the group limited regeneration.

Still the pair did succeed in distracting the chimera from attacking only Jebodiah, which would have gone well for the group had the dwarf not tripped over on his next swipe, overbalancing and crashing to the road in front of the beasts draconic head... which duly gave him a second acid bath, the spray catching Elena also who had just reached the melee. As blows rained in finally on the monster, both Noob's arrows and Aeron's magical missiles taking a toll, so Elena calmly darted forwards and ran the beast through with her cutlass, dropping it dead to the road in her first strike at it, much to the annoyance of pretty much everyone else! Cutting open the beasts guts, Aeron managed to fish out some items of minor magical worth and a fair few silver coins also. That done, the group chased down their bolted mounts and dragged the chimera's corpse to the cliffs overlooking the Sea of Swords, sending it to a watery grave, and then continuing southwards.

The group camped for the night beside the road, and other than merchants, peasants and other assorted travellers on the road, they met or saw nothing of interest for the next day, arriving at Waterdeep in the evening, whereupon they split up and headed off in a variety of directions.

Thols and Zamtap headed to the officers Watchhouse, for him to report in and also report the Gondsman for possession of a smokepowder weapon. Reporting to Lieutenant Julia Ackerman of what had transpired during his absence from the city. However, despite one being an officer of the law, and the other a cleric, neither could relate a very detailed account of events, Thols constantly falling back on his need to hand her the journal which he claimed would explain everything, yet he had not brought it with him. Angry at the pair of them for the lack of information they could provide, and that they could confirm that Esau Enoch had escaped again, she dismissed them telling them to return with this journal.

Elena (who was in possession of the journal still, having kept hold of it after finding it and reading it out), made a beeline for the tavern she stayed at last time she was in the city, stopping off on the way only to hand her cutlass in to a weaponsmiths to get it magically enhanced.

Thols elected to go searching for Elena in the morning and retired to a bunk in the watchhouse while Zamtap made his way to The House of Inspired Hands, the citys temple to Gond where he made a tithe to his deity, paid for his breastplate to be magically enhanced by one of the temples blacksmiths, and related what he knew of the Yuan-ti's alchemical cloning experiments to the temples high priestess Jhoadil Zulthind, before taking a bunk for the night.

Gylippus and Noob made their way around various shops before seeking their rest, selling off much of the excess loot the group had been carrying around along the way.

The next day (Marpenoth 26th) dawned over Waterdeep, a light rain bathing the City of Splendors, and washing muck from the sreets as the group woke scattered across the city, and made their way to The Yawning Portal Inn to meet and plan what to do next. After dividing up the monies and useful magical gear from the partys haul, most of the group elected to go with Thols and Elena back to the watchhouse to make a better case for the evidence they had gathered.

*DM's Notes:*

Heh, we actually ran out of time this week, the games club was shutting for the night, so we have to end at where we did. Shame really, could have carried on for quite some time. While the party did move quite a distance this week, I have to admit to being less than happy with how the session went. This campaign started back in August last year, every detail of it has been experienced by most of the players, and is recorded here for easy reference, and yet when put on the spot, neither Richard or Gareth could provide a credible in-character account of recent events, including what had happened in just the last session, instead trying to fall back on the old "Ohh I tell her what's happened".

That isn't roleplaying, not to my mind, saying something like that is a cop out. You want to tell a character something, then actually say it, you are playing a role afterall, and conversation is part of that. Neither the characters, nor the players are unintelligent, far from it, so to my mind this smacks of simply not paying any attention. In which case I have to wonder, am I boring you guys? I know you read this, so let me know, because if so tell me. Heck I handed out sheets this session and asked my group to write out some ideas for subplots for their characters so that I could perhaps tailor the campaign to appeal more directly to their characters, and I got very little in the way of useful ideas back. To those of you putting in the effort to take an interest and play your characters with personalities I apologise for this rant.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Eighteen*

Trooping into the watchhouse, the grouping of Aeron, Zamtap, Elena, Jebodiah and Ki are shown to Lieutenant Ackerman's office. After a lolt of explaining, bringing the officer up to speed on what they know, they turn over the journal to her keeping, so that she can bring it to the Lords attention. She dismisses the group after taking down their names and where they are staying, telling them to wait to be contacted, and that it might take a few days.

 Elena deciding that she needs new clothing if she is going to appear before any Lords, asks the lieutenant for the address of a good tailors, and is given the location of the Morningstal Emporium, a tailors shop on the corner of The Street of Silks and Sevenlamps Alley. Heading there with Jebodiah, the lady pirates curiosity is piqued when the sign bears a stylised 'M' matching the one on her signet ring, that she has had as long as she can remember. Entering the shop, they are looked at down the noses of some of the well to do clients being measured for garments, and the proprietor approachs them, in troducing himself as Joach Morningstal.

When Elena introduces herself he looks at her stunned, having though that his sister died years ago along with their parents during a pirate attack on the family ship. He quizzes her about her past, keen to find out if any others survived the attack, but learns nothing in that regard, save that his sister has grown up on ships. Embracing her, he asks where she is staying and is appalled to learn that she has taken up residence in a well known brothel, insisting that she move to his house above the shop at once, lest she drag the family name into disrepute. It is only then that he looks at her, and the grizzled dwarf warrior with her and realises that she is an adventurer too! Leaving the brother and sister to get re-acquainted, and for Elena to meet her sister in law and two nieces, Jebodiah makes his excuses and heads back to his Inn.

Six days fly by, with nary a word from the Lords and upon meeting at The Yawning Portal on Uktar 2nd, around noon as the group always does, they decide to go and see the Lieutenant and find out what progress has been made, knowing that in the days they have been sat around waiting, the Yuan-ti will have completed another batch of Megalomen clones. Upon reaching the watchhouse though, they are informed that no-one has seen the lieutenant since she reported in sick, several days ago, a kid delivering the message. In the company of Sargeant Eckles, the group head across the city to her house.

With no-one answering the knocks on the door, the Sargeant opens it and then deputises the group to investigate the property, as they know what it is that they are looking for. Heading inside, the first thing the group finds is the beheaded corpse of a small girl on the stairs. Heading upstairs, they quickly discover the bodies of Julia Ackerman and her husband in the main bedroom, and her other daughter in the bath. All four corpses have a design cut into the flesh, that of a pair of sabre-teeth. There is no sign of the journal on the premises, and the group quickly conclude that the Fangs of Sseth cell active in Waterdeep must be responsible for this atrocity.

The party waste no time, then, heading directly across the city to Blackstaff Tower where they do their best to get the attention of the archmages within, the nature of the towers cloaking illusions making this hard, until eventually their perseverance pays off and Laeral Silverhand apears before them to ask what is the reason for the disturbance. When they explain what has happened, she calmly speaks "Khelben, come outside, some people need to see you" and within a few seconds the Lord Mage of Waterdeep himself strides out of the tower, the famous blackstaff for which he is named clasped in hand. After a brief explanation, he invites them inside, and the party head into the tower and up to a large comfortable study chamber, seating themselves. After a lengthy discussion and much cross questioning from Khelben, the group finish explaining what has transpired recently and the impending threat to Faerun from what the Yuan-ti are now capable of doing.

While somewhat sceptical about their claims that the Yuan-ti have created a process that duplicates and improves upon the Clone spell using alchemy, he knows sincerity when he hears it, and is duly alarmed by the prospect of the Chultan peninsular falling under the total rule of the snakemen. He tells the group that he will put a fast ship at their disposal (the Tisiphone) and that he will alert his agents (The Moonstars) to what is going on, to see if any of them can further aid the group. Lastly he will bring this news to Lord Paladinson, as should the knowledge of the cloning process spread to the Yuan-ti of the Serpent Hills, then Waterdep itself will be endangered. He suggest that the group should make all haste south to Tashluta and from there head into the Black Jungles to find the Yuan-ti's cloning chambers and destroy them and the notes required to build more. With that he dismisses the group from the tower, telling them that the ship will be ready to sail in two days.

On Uktar 3rd, each of the party receive a messemgber bearing a pouch containing 200 platinum coins and a very long winded letter from Lord Paladinson, praising the group for their heroic efforts to stamp out threats to life and liberty and how such was in keeping with Waterdeep's grand tradition of oppossing tyrany and lawlessness, citing recent examples of them battling the Phaerimm in the defence of Evereska and how Haedrak's army set sail from the city to liberate and re-unite Tethyr just a few years before that. Needless to say most of the group headed out to spend the coins, leaving the letters mostly unread in their rooms.

On learning that to buy offensive magical wands, he must first join the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, Gylippus shrugs and stumps up the 50 gold coins, and then buys a Wand of Magic Missiles. Noob on the other hand, having purchased a box of Nexalan cigars from an Aurora's Whole Realms Emporium, pays a gnomish inventor by the name of Caractacus Okalthok to make him a cigar lighter, which he does, and then the ranger pays another artisan to have it decorated with fire and dragon motifs. Several other members of the group put the unexpected windfall of cash to good use also, purchasing various upgrades to their equipment, or simply stocking up on healing potions and anti-venom.

*DM's Notes:*

Yep, another no combat week, thoughafter the carnage of the past few sessions I think it was quite welcomed by everyone, as were the bags of money that I had Lord Paladinson send the partys way, which I figured would be pretty in character for him to do. I did my best to play Khelben as he is described in the various books and novels,. a bit gruff and taciturn, but intelligent and understanding. I hope he came across well.

I also enjoyed a chance to use what is arguably my favourite book ever published for D&D, the Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog, which is brilliant for when players visit a big city or town and want to know what is for sale. you can just toss this out onto the table and let them, browse (with a few exceptions, like the DaRoni's Workshop chapter, though that would probably be quite apt for a city in say Lantan). I'm sure it got a little repetitive for the players to have to recite things over and over again to various people, but that was sort of the point. I can say that the roleplay this week was a huge improvement over last session.


----------



## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Nineteen*

As the others made their purchases buying various items of use in the jungles to which they were headed, or in general as both Zamtap and Ki purchased a Travel Cloak, Jebodiah had another need in mind entirely. Seeking out a branch of Aurora's Whole Realms Emporium he bought several small barrels of beer for the journey, buying a few different brands. On taking them back to the Safehaven Inn for the night, the landlord informed him that he'd have to stash them in the cellar, as if any beer was getting drunk under his roof, it was going to be bought from his bar. Jebodiah agrees and after placing his cache in the cellar, the landlord remembers that someone was there earlier in the day looking for him. Not recognising the description of the man as anyone he knows, the dwarf buys a pint and sits down at a table to wait and see if they come back.

A few hours, and several more beers later, his patience is rewarded when a wizardess escorted by four men in armour walk into the Inn and set upon him. While she stays back and showers him with magic missiles, her bodyguards wade into combat ... much to their regret, as withoiut even breaking into a decent battle rage, the barbarian hews them down, dispatching three in no time at all, they barely able to get a hit in on him, and seeing him advance towards her, the wizardess blasts him one last time from her wand and flees into the street, as her fourth guard is swiftly sent to join his fellows on the Fugue Plane. Running out into the street, Jeb is annoyed to see that the woman has vanished, and on heading back inside he is informed that he and the group can clear out of the Inn, as they will be bad for business in a place that is called the Safehaven.

Jebodiah heads to the Yawning Portal to tell the others of what has happened, paying Durnan to stash his beer there for the night, and then heads back to the Inn with Thols to collect the groups bags. While the sargeant busies himself with helping the watch collect the bodies and take statements from those in the Inn at the time, Jebodiah piles the various bags and bedrolls onto himself and heads back to the Portal carrying the lot. The group decide to split up and all spend the night in different taverns, well except for Elena who is staying with her brother.

Noon of Uktar 4th saw the group assemble on the docks at the Tisiphone's berth, the ship an odd combination of schooner and dhow. Her captain introduces himself as Baeran Winstronn and he informs the group that sailing to Tashluta will take roughly 22 days of sea travel, but that he intends to put in at Athkatla and Calimport to take on supplies. The partys horses and gear are loaded aboard, along with Jebodiahs beer, and the party pair up into their cabins, Noob sharing with Gylippus, Jebodiah with Ki, Aeron paired with Zamtap, and Elena gets a cabin to herself, as Thols stays in Waterdeep, having received a promotion to Lieutenant and command of the watchhouse he is stationed at. Waving the others goodbye at the docks, he returns to his duties. Setting sail on the tide, the Tisiphone eases out of the harbour and heads south along the Sword Coast.

Six days slip past without being noticed, Gylippus and Aeron busying themselves in their cabins copying spells into their spellbooks from scrolls they bought in Waterdeep and also from the spellbook they captured from Janesh Broca. Noob and Jebodiah both spend their time being sick, neither really having much in the way of sea legs, and Elena is perfectly at home up in the crows nest, drinking Jebodiah's stash of beer as he has completely lost his appetite for the stuff. It is in the mid afternoon of Uktar 10th though that from on high, Elena sees a large green winged shape soar up out of the Cloak Wood as the ship passes it, and bear down towards them. Shouting down a warning to the deck, the party and crew ready themselves for battle, several crewman running to the ships foredeck, and taking the canvas off the pair of ballistas mounted there, readying them for use.

The green dragon swoops over the ship, blasting down with its breath weapon, green corrosive gas enveloping many of those on the deck, and nearly killing Zamtap outright, who quickly darts down the stairs and gets below decks to heal himself. As the dragon banks around for another pass, Aeron walks to Jebodiah and casts Fly on him, telling the eager dwarf to wait until the dragon passes over again, then soar up and tear its guts out. Elena launches an arrow at the scaly beast, only to watch it bounce harmlessly off the creatures scales, it having cast spells also to grant it a shield and magical armour. Gylippus and Aeron groan, looking at one another and saying at once "Should have memorised a Dispel Magic". Realising that her bow is going to be of no use, Elena attempts to quickly descend to the deck, but misplaces her footing and falls a good deal of the way, landing with a thud. As the dragon dives back towards the ship, so everyone on board readies themself for a tough fight to come...

*DM's Notes:*

Well this session went well, the group spent their money wisely for the most part, and certainly in character for Jebodiah in the case of the beer, shame he's too sick on the ship to actually drink any of it. I tossed the battle in the Inn his way to catch him up a bit in experience to the rest of the group, as having died twice in this campaign he was lagging a little bit behind. As he is again the partys primary fighter with the departure of Thols, he needed a bit of a push to help him regain what he lost. Richard has decided to leave the group, which is regrettable, but he has other commitments. Not sure yet whether I'm going to get a replacement player in, or let the group return to seven players. I know at least one person who would love to fill the vacant seat at the table (we get spectators watching our game in the club!)

Decided a dragon would be a good opponent for a fight at sea, the players have been overly confident at fighting dragons since killing the young red in his lair, so I figured I'd see how they do against a slightly bigger dragon out in the open, a green this time (it's name is Salamaress), and on a limited battlefield, while it can swoop about at its leisure, the party are constrained by the size of the ship (well apart from Jebodiah that is who now can fly, didn't see that one coming... I love it when my group pull something sneaky like that, Phil is especially good at doing it!)


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## williem-de'bloodie

*draagonslayers*

pffft we're gonna slaughter this dragon as well

we have super jeb


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty*

The group waited as the green dragon got ever closer, Aeron counselling Jebodiah to wait until the dragon was overhead before taking flight, the dwarf eager to take to the air. But Salamaress did not pass over the bulk of the ship on her second pass, instead sweeping over the forecastle and in a brutal combination of attacks with teeth, claws and tail, wiping out the four men crewing the ballistas there, to rid herself of the threat they posed.

While the rest of the group readied thmselves for her third pass, Gylippus rolled his eyes and walked to the side of the ship, his fingers moving in arcane gesture as he spoke aloud words of power, pointing at the dragon, who was flying off to bank around again, it roaring out in confusion as his blindness spell worked, the great reptiles sight stripped away in an instant.

Going quiet, the party and remaining crew sailed onwards as the dragon floundered in the air and then dived into the Sea of Swords, intent now simply on reaching land, rather than on attack. When after several minutes of tense waiting the green monster did not emerge again from under the waves the party took to celebrating with Jebodiah's ale stash.

Days slipped by easily, as the ship progressed down the coast, making a brief stop in Athkatla to take on supplies and then continuing southwards again. It was on Uktar 15th, while sailing out of sight of the land, the ship having put further out to sea to avoid the pirates known to harbour in the occupied port of Murann, that a ship was spotted to the rear of the Tisiphone, bearing down on them. Larger and with more sails, and sailing in the smaller schooners wind, stealing it, it was only a matter of time before it caught them. From her elevated vantage point in the crows nest,. Elena saw the black sails and the crude white orc skull painted on them and swallowed a little nervously, recognising the Oathbreaker, an infamous orc pirate ship that two years previously had captured her own ship the Fardale, and she had seen her Captain and best friend lose their lives to the orc's captain, a brute by the name of Skaaag.

Readying for battle as best as they could, the captain ordered his remaining crew below decks to keep them out of the fight, rationalising this as a neccesary action, as even if they won, it would do them no good if they lost the crew in the process. As the Oathbreaker came close enough, so Elena and Ki loosed arrows at the orcs on the pirate ship forecastle, they returning the favour and targetting everyone on the stern castle of the much smaller Tisiphone, the Oathbreaker more than double the size of the schooner, its deck crawling with orcs armed for battle.

As the larger ship came alongside, Ki hurled pots of incendiary fire into the sails of the orc's ship, setting them ablaze and the orcs retaliated by hurling grapples across to anchor the ships together, several orcs swinging across the gap on ropes to land on the Tisiphone's deck and engage most of the party in melee, especially Jebodiah. As battles broke out across the deck of the Tisiphone, so the orcs dropped a gangplank across between the two ships to make reaching the smaller ship that much quicker. Seeing Elena fighting on the stern of the schooner, Skaaag strode along the deck of his ship, snagged a rope and swung over to confront her, the lady calling out "He's mine!" to deter her comrades from aiding in a very personal duel.

From the Oathbreakers deck, the orc priest Gurnash did what he could to hinder the party and aid his captain. Breaking loose from melee, Zamtap summoned a monkey to harry the enemy priest but it had little effect and so he made his way towards the stern. Ignoring Elena's cry, Ki edged around to flank Skaaag, hoping to strike him down with a wel placed blow, but in a matter of seconds, things went badly for the group, as having hacked down several orcs in close combat, Jebodiah put a foot wrong and slipped in the blood of one of those he had felled, collapsing to the ground, Stormcleaver slipping from his grasp and he bashing his head on a step, stunning himself for a few moments, an orc leering over him. Almost at the same time, Skaaag invoked his rage, and tore through Elena's defense, his first blow ripping through her abdomen, and as she dropped, his second cut her in two, the lifeless halves of her falling at his feet as a horrified Ki and Zamtap watched helplessly...

*DM's Notes:*

Well that's the first permanent party death, Elena won't be coming back from that. Quite an action packed session this one, kicking off with the dragon fight, which certainly ended in a surprising way, I didn't see that spell coming. Kudo's to Gylippus for pulling that feat off, though quite how he'll ever top that I don't know (and not sure I want too!)

Sad that Elena was killed, and by her nemesis from her backstory too, killed by your own character history, thats unusual. I was always planning on having a pirate battle (cos hey pirates rule, and always wanted to do a ship to ship battle, thank the various divine ones for battlemats!), but thanks to Dan writing her history, the vague pirates I had in mind, became the Oathbreaker and her orcish crew. As for Jebodiah, heh, Matt  rolled a 1 to hit and then a 100 on the Fumble table we use (which got him 3 more rolls on the table, thankfully for him he didn't roll anything too nasty on those rolls!).


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty One*

It was then that a door slammed open on the Tisiphone and Aeron Greycastle strode out onto the deck, growling at the noise as he had been scribing spells. On seeing the orcs around the deck he cast a spell to ward him from arrows and levitated upwards, to get a clear view of the Oathbreakers deck, blasting the orcs there with a Scintillating Sphere, killing three of them instantly. Somewhat alarmed by this development, the orc stood over Jebodiah missed his blow at the dwarf who quickly recovered his wits and his axe, and buried Stormcleaver in his hapless foe.

Ki's resolve though, on seeing Skaaag stood over what remained of Elena, broke and he fled down from the stern to the main deck, quaffing a healing potion on the way. The orc captain, seeing Jebodiah as the most likely threat advanced on him, bolstered by spells cast by the orcs priest Gurnash, until Zamtap spotted his opposite number and went to work counterspelling his foes enchantments, each priest negating the other, as Jebodiah hewed about him, chopping orcs like firewood, until his axe flew from his grasp and landed on the Oathbreakers deck. Fending off blows with his shield and punching back with it as Skaaag barrelled into him, Jebodiah was relived when Aeron flew across to the other deck and returned with his axe, handing it back to him. Stormcleaver clashed with Skaaag's axe as the two barbarians faced off against one another trading a quick series of blows which ended with the dwarf lopping off the orcs head, a dim sense of satisfaction felt from his axes slumbering intelligence at this victory.

With the defeat of their captain, and the rest of the party making short work of the remaining orcs on the Tisiphone's deck, Gurnash surrendered, and in return for his life, turned over the contents of the orcs hold to the party. With the Oathbreakers sails destroyed and her warriors and captain slaughtered, the orc priest pointed out that it would be some time before his ship would get back to port and longer still to get a new crew, captain and fittings for the ship with no coin in the hold to spend on such. Knowing that they had more pressing business elsewhere to attend to than dealing with a crippled pirate ship, the party agreed, emptied the hold of everything of value and sailed off towards Calimport.

Sailing into the the massive harbour of Calimport on Uktar 22nd, the party were reccomended the Bloody Cutlass Inn on the docks, opposite the Tisiphone's berth by Captain Baeran. While most of the party decide to take the good captain's advice, Zamtap sets off through the city, intent on finding a temple to Gond. After some inquiries, and a donation at the Coinchapel (a temple to Waukeen) to pay for accurate directions, he arrived at the Palace of Wonders, a rather grandly titled small temple to the Wonderbringer, intending to buy himself a new pistol.

However, on introducing himself, he was told that his superiors on Lantan having been informed of his quest (thanks to him reporting his actitivies and ionteded heading, to the temple in Waterdeep), have deemed his mission to be of the utmost importance, seeing the Yuan-ti's efforts with regard to technology and science as a direct challenge to Gond's primacy over innovation and artifice. Thus the Overgold of the temple, informed the rather startled priest that a knight had been dispatched to aid him in his quest, who had brough a replacement pistol with him, and that he had gone down to the docks to await the Tisiphone's arrival. Muttering his thanks, Zamtap started walking back towards the ships berth to try and find his new ally, knowing only that the man he is looking for is named Lord Edward Hamilton.

In the meantime, having booked himself into a room at the Cutlass, Jebodiah took it upon himself to take Elena's body to the Admiral's Assembly (a large temple to Valkur, located near the divide between Dock and Armada Wards), paying to have the body taken back to Waterdeep and her brother for proper burial. On returning to the Inn, Gylippus persuades the group to stay in Calimport for longer than the couple days they had planned, so that they might benefit from the cities vast resources, reasoning that with a potentially long jungle trek ahead of them, this could well be their last chance to equip themselves for the task ahead. Sweetening his argument, was the division of money from the orcs hold, and equipment sold, meaning everyone in the gropup was flush with coin, and with ideas on how best to spend it. The party agree on a stay of eight days.

*DM's Notes:*

Well the battle was wrapped up nicely, and it was nice to have Phil back at the table this week after his absence last session. No sign of Mark now for a couple weeks, and I get the general impression that he isn't coming back, cutting the party back to six players. hopefully this isn't going to become a trend. I wasn't overly surprised when the group decided to stay longer in Calimport than the couple days Captain Baeran was planning on stopping for, as it is one of (if not the) largest cities in the Realms, and a very magical place also, making it the perfect place to stop and equip for what lies ahead.


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## Brakkart

*Lord Edward Hamilton's (Ash) History*

Born some twenty five years past to the Noble family of Hamilton. His father Lord Robert Hamilton and his mother the Lady Francesca Hamilton  Born in the port city of Athkatla. The Hamiltons lived there until Edward was five whereby they moved to Lantan so that Lady Francesca could be near her beloved sister a cleric of Sune by the name of Kirianna Suzanna.  Lord Robert Hamilton had been born into an old line of nobles and a very extensive family fortune. The families money having been gained centuries earlier then invested in a series of small businesses in Athkatla to keep the family in money.

Robert wasn't what you'd call a handsome man but he had a certain charm to him that had won him the love of his wife. Francesca on the other hand had been born to a well to do family in Lantan and was raised with her older sister Kirianna by their mother who worked as a scullery maid to a Noble family in Lantan. Francesca and her sister grew to be the most beautiful young women in the land of Lantan. As they grew up Francesca and Kirianna found they had completely different interests as Kirianna became involved in the hedonistic ways of the church of Sune, Francesca found herself apprenticing to a seamstress.

It was this apprenticeship that took Francesca from her home in Lantan to Athkatla where she met Robert Hamilton and fell in love with his wit and charm. They were married witthin a year and Francesca was with child within two. The move to Lantan introduced the young Edward to his aunt Kirianna for the first time. At the age of eighteen Edward who had turned into what could only be described as a pretty young man was known around the local taverns not only for his looks but also for the wit and charm he had inherited from his father. Having a young girl on his arm where ever he went Edwards activities came to the attention of his aunt who asked him to come to a meeting of the church of Sune. 

The High Priestess of Sune in Lantan was the direct superior to his aunt. Upon attending this meeting much to his fathers disgust it was discovered that Edward had in fact been touched by the Goddess Sune herself and had been granted the power to be a holy warrior for her. Now Edward had always been a lover and not a fighter and the news that he had been chosen by the most Beautiful Goddess ever was both a blessing and a curse to him. The blessing came in the way that he learnt to fight and defend himself from jealous husbands whose wives had fallen for Edward who was not entirely innocent in these liasons. Taught to respect the sanctity of anothers marriage Edward found himself being taught more about art, beauty and sexual acts than he was learning in combat.

The curse was that the touch of Sune alienated Edward from his father who had always intended for Edward to carry on the family line. Trying to break the idea of his son becoming embroiled in the church of Sune, Robert took his son to the main temple of Gond the Wonderbringer. Hoping to show his son that all gods had things he could learn. Asking for someone to show his son the ways of Gond one of the caretakers 
of the temple beckoned for a young cleric by the name of Zamtap to show Edward around. Edward hoping to humor his father followed Zamtap around for a day or so and found a strange liking for the gondsman but no interest in what he was saying. It was at the end of the second day Edward spent in the temple of Gond that Zamtap showed Edward his pistol and what it did 

Now this was something that Edward became interested in and he asked Zamtap to teach him the use of the weapon Unfortunately Zamtap was only able to weild the pistol through the use of magic so Edward left the temple, purchased his own pistol 
and set abot trying to find someone to teach him how to use it. A year later a visiting Techsmith taught Edward how to use the pistol until he became proficient in its use. 
continuing his training at the Temple of Sune until his twenty fifth birthday 

By now his father had disowned him and forbade him from using his name ( Lord Edward Hamilton ) until such time as he forgot about this Paladin rubbish and returned to his fathers side. Everyone had taken to calling Edward, Ash on account of his use of the pistol and the piles of ash powder he always seemed to leave. Everyone that is apart from his mother and aunt who still used his birth name. Just a week ago a runner came from the temple of Gond seeking council from some of the church of Sune a group of 5 followers of Sune went to meet with the Gondsmen including Ash and his aunt Kirianna.

The Gondsmen had recieved word of a Yuan-ti plot to artificially clone mighty warriors in a hope of building an army. This news had worried the Gondsmen and although they had a cleric on the track of those responsible he had lost his pistol and had no-one to spare to send him a new weapon. It was Kirianna who asked the name of the brave cleric combating this threat to the beauty of natural life. Upon hearing that it was Zamtap who was on the trail of the Yuan-ti, Ash stood and announced that he would go and aid the efferts of the Gondsman in combating the threat that the Yuan-ti posed. Given a new pistol to give to his old friend Ash arrived at the temple of Gond the following morning to discuss how he was to find Zamtap. The clerics of Gond led Ash to a portal and after telling him the name of the ship Zamtap travelled on and the inn he was likely to stay at told him to step through. Ash seeing no danger stepped through the portal and arrived in the temple of Gond in Calimport. The Gondsmen there already seemed to know who he was and his purpose there, so not wishing to delay, Ash left the temple and headed for the port.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Two*

As the party relaxed in a booth near the door of the Bloody Cutlass in the early evening of the day they had arrived in Calimport, they were greeted by a man in platemail who asked to see Zamtap outside for a few words, after introducing himself as Lord Edward Hamilton. Although a little hesitant, the mention that he had a replacement pistol was too much for the Gondsman to resist and he walked out of the Inn a few seconds after the platemail clad knight... only to see no sign of him on the quayside outside the Inn, and then his world exploded in flame!

Walking down the docks towards the Cutlass in the early evening, having visited a couple times earlier in the day and finding no sign of Zamtap, Lord Edward Hamilton (or Ash as he prefers to be called), was somewhat baffled to see himself walk out of the tavern up ahead, and more so when the other one of him, shifted form into that of a common dock worker, seeing Zamtap appear from the Inn then and look around in bewilderment. Before he could call out a warning though, he watched as a huge ball of fire erupted around the cleric, seeing a figure further away on the docks suddenly appear as the spell was cast. Drawing his sword he rushed towards the Gondsman to help.

From inside the Inn the rest of the party either heard the explosion, or if not that, then certainly the scream of pain from their priest and they grabbed up weapons and made their way towards the Inn's front door, well all apart from Gylippus who in his usual self preservation frame of mind, began armouring himself with spells. Outside in the street, as Zamtap recovered from the blast, staggering from his wounds, he was alarmed to see a dockworker charge into him, his form blurring again back into that of the armoured man he had followed outside, and then he was doubly stunned when another of the same man turned up, charging into the doppelganger (Smannet), aided by Ki who nimbly dodged around the various weapons and bodies to put himself in the prime position for striking at the foe, keeping him between himself and Ash. It was then that another fireball engulfed the group, as the mage (Echilleos) launched another into the fray. Badly injured, Zamtap backed away from the fray and healed himself, retreating towards the Inn's door, only for a third foe to appear, as he was charged by another man in platemail (Dorath) who greviously wounded him again, as he growled "Greetings from the Council of Wrath!"

Reaching the doorway Aeron quickly assessed the situation and drew two daggers from his belt, casting Steel Dance, animating them as they grew to the size of longswords. Grinning, he sent them to battle Dorath and Echilleos. From behind him in the Inn though came the sound of battle as Jebodiah who had been making his way to the door, was caught unawares when a phase spider (Garx) shifted into existence behind him and buried its mandibles into his back, poisoning him. Spinning around, the dwarf angrily hacked at the spider, Stormcleaver flashing through air and flesh alike, and sending the spider fleeing into another plane as it shifted away in fear of its life. Growling his satisfaction with that, he turned and continued towards the Inn's doorway.

Outside on the docks, Ash and Ki battled Smannet and clearly were getting the better of the fight, only for Ash to gasp out in pain suddenly, as a fifth foe appeared out of thin air, an assassin (Varimer) losing her invisibility as her arrow struck home from close range, the paladin of Sune staggering from the unexpected attack. With Dorath bearing down on him, Zamtap's resolve broke, and he ran into the Inn, fleeing past Aeron, whose eyes went wide, as his defender fled, leaving him at the mercy of Dorath, the armoured man effortlessly cutting the partys wizard down in the doorway. As Ki and Smannet traded blows indecisively, Echilleos was annoyed to discover that even with the wizard down, the sword that was harrassing him, just kept on attacking, following him no matter where he went!

Seeing Aeron down in the doorway, and the form of Dorath looming over the wizard ready to finish him off, Jebodiah snarled "You shall not have him!" and launched himself into the warrior, battling furiously to hold his ground and keep the wizard from an untimely death. Hearing the dwarf emerge from the Inn, smannet was momentarily distracted, which was all the opening Ki needed, darting in and running the doppelganger through with his twin daggers, dropping him to the quayside. With that foe down, Ash, turned and barrelled into Varimer, swearing revenge for the arrow the assassin had shot him with. At this development, another assassin (Terquel), launched himself into Ki, to keep the monk from aiding any of his companions in their battles. Echilleos tried and failed to shoot Ki with magic missiles, the animated sword continuing to harass and distract him.

Steeling his resolve, Zamtap advanced back through the Inn from the back corner he had run too, and cast Lesser Vigor on himself, Gylippus, Aeron and Jebodiah, the spell slowly working its magic to knit the wizards wounds back together. From his place in the Inn, Gylippus edged around to observe the battle outside through the doorway, looking for the person who loosed the fireballs earlier, and then getting caught off guard as Garx phased back in and attacked him, seeing a much easier target in the sneaky wizard than the dwarven psychopath he had attacked earlier.

Not letting the massive spider bother him, Gylippus moved away from it, and tried to blind Echilleos but the other wizard shrugged off the attempt, but was distracted enough by the effort and the sword slashing at him that his attempt to magic missile Ash failed, even as Ash prevailed in his battle with Varimer, easily dispatching the assassin. In the Inn's doorway, Jebodiah held firm against Dorath, the two warriors trading vicious blows, the dwarf not giving an inch as he stood guard over the slowly healing prone form of Aeron. Seeing the dwrf as the main obstacle to remove, Terquel broke off attacking Ki to rush in and flank Jebodiah, only for Ki to follow him, continuing to battle the assassin.

Inside the Inn, Garx scuttled after the retreating form of Gylippus, but launched itself into the nearer form of Zamtap instead, biting him, but failing to poison the cleric. In the doorway, Aeron finally awoke and crawled into a corner out of the way of the main fighting, putting a little distance between himself and danger.

Outside, Ash drew his pistol and aimed at Echilleos, stepping forwards to fire and slipping on a fish, missing the wizard entirely and ending up on his backside on the dockside, dropping his gun as well. Jebodiah prevailed in his battle of attrition with Dorath, cutting the fighter down with a pair of savage strikes, turning then to battle Terquel, but missing him as the assassin darted out of the way of the dwarf's axe and stabbed Ki again.

Zamtap cried out in pain, as Garx bit him, and as the priest desperately tried to heal himself, so the spider bit him again, injecting poison into him, the Gondsman dropping in a heap to the floor, blood pouring from his wounds, but as the spider went for the killing bite, so he was blasted to death by a volley of magic missiles, a grim faced Aeron sat in his corner, having used a wand to fell the critter. 

Echilleos went to draw a wand, glancing down briefly but long enough for the sword bedeviling him to get an opening and run him through, it then flying back towards Aeron. As both Ki and Jebodiah battled Terquel, Gylippus nimbly made his way around the outside of their fight and then darted in, lancing his rapier through the assassins ribs and straight to the heart and pulling it neatly back out, the last of their foes dropping to the cobbles. 
Wiping the rapier off on the body and resheathing it, the wizard grinned in satisfaction and walked off to see to the bodies.

While some of the group saw to gathering the bodies of the fallen and stripping them for valuables, Jebodiah and Ash marched straight to the Inn's bar to order drinks, closely followed by Zamtap (once his magic had partially restored his health), who seemed only interested in getting his pistol, despite the angry comments growled his way by Jebodiah, and the looks to accompany the dwarfs comments sent his way from Aeron, none of the party very happy with the priest for his show of cowardice that nearly got their wizard killed.

Still none of them could deny that the priests timely casting of Lesser Vigor had saved Aeron's life, and likely his own, and so the party set to dividing the spoils of their battle with both Gylippus and Aeron gaining a wand each, Ash being accepted into the groups ranks, and pocketing a protective ring too. Ki laid claim to a cloak of resistance, while Zamtap asked only for the armour and weapon that Dorath had carried, gaining both but using neither, claiming he needed them for a project he was working on...

*DM's Notes:*

Yup, this one fight took the entire session, but it was one hell of a good scrap, and all the players and myself had a great time battling it out, with the battle easily able to go either way. I had been wanting to use the Council of Wrath ever since I read Monte Cook's mini adventure featuring them (An Eye For An Eye) on the WotC website. I didn't use them as was suggested in that adventure, as it would have been hard to fit into the campaign, so they turned up as hired killers in a nasty attack on the party that nearly killed Zamtap and Aeron both, and both Jebodiah and Ash were in a bad way by the end of it.

The Council made for a good mix of adversaries what with 2 assassins, a wizard, fighter, doppelganger and a phase spider, they allow for many options, and a very varied fight. Also they have a good haul of equipment and coin, which I felt the party could put to good use while they were in Calimport. As to who hired the council? All will be revealed in due time, suffice to say that more than one group wishes the party's quest stopped!


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## Brakkart

*Ash's First Letter*

To my Dearest Aunt Kirianna

I am writing to you on this the eighth day since I left the family home on this mission for our beloved Sune.  I have spent the last eight days checking the Bloody Cutlass daily for any word of the Gondsman Zamtap and the party he travels with. I talked with the bartender every day hoping for news of their arrival.

The bartender seemed a good sort but he always looked at me strangely when I asked for my brandy. Midafternoon this very day the party I have been awaiting arrived, but not to the warmest welcome I’ve seen.

As I was walking down the road to the Bloody Cutlass I saw someone who was a mirror image of me exit the tavern and then blur into the crowd. The Gondsman Zamtap followed from inside the tavern only to have a fireball erupt around him. Following this various assailants appeared to attack Zamtap and the party he travels with. I rushed into the combat to aid those I have been sent to help. The combat was over fairly quickly thanks to my new friend Jebodiah, who I believe was the one person who swung the battle in our favour. The cleric of Gond himself proved to be as inept in combat as he was back at the temple of Gond when he was still studying, fleeing from the melee into the tavern to heal his own wounds he exposed the partys mage, an air Genasi by the name of  Aeron Greycastle to an overbearing assault by the would be assailants strongest combatant. Struck down by one blow Aeron would surely have died if not for the timely intervention of the Dwarf Barbarian Jebodiah.

Anyhow the fact that we won the battle with no fatalities on our side was luck as far as I can tell. How this party has accomplished what I have been told is beyond me, their inability to work as a unit will be their undoing.

One of my first aims is to try and work on their combat effectiveness, and form them into a fluid unit. How well I will manage in this task I can’t say as I’ve never tried to teach others how to work together in a fight before.

 After the combat was over I used my divine gift from the Goddess Sune to heal Jebodiah who bore enough wounds to bring him near death. When Jebodiah was a little healthier, we both entered the tavern for what I believe to be a well deserved drink.

As the rest of the party re-entered the tavern, Zamtap approached the bar where both Jebodiah and myself were downing our respective drinks. As he approached the bar Jebodiah started to question as to who had attacked them, But Zamtap seemed to ignore the person who had saved the entire party and instead asked me if I was the one sent by his temple.
It's good to know exactly where you stand with people, but Zamtap’s attitude needs to change. I reluctantly gave him the pistol and components his temple had sent for him, along with a verbal dressing down.

The party which seems to have no name has agreed to stay here for the next several days to perform personal errands and tasks which they deem important. As such I shall remain here until they continue on their journey.

Yours Lovingly

Your nephew

Edward Hamilton

*DM's Notes:*

This is how Dan/Ash has decided to write his journal, in the form of letters sent back to his aunt on Lantan (who is also a priestess of Sune).


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Three*

After eight uneventful days in Calimport, the group were finally ready to depart, having made good use of their time in the city. Zamtap had hired a bench in the back of a jewellers shop and made a few magical brooches using the tools there, as well as buying a Bag of Holding to carry around the increasing number of bits and pieces of the project he is working on, filling it with gears and mechanical joints and the like. Though he was somewhat stymied when he tried to buy a large quantity of alchemists fire, running into a city ordance law dating back to the time of the Shoon Imperium against selling anything more than a limited quantity of any incendiary to one person.

Gylippus had spent his time in the way that he liked best, profitably, having sold or fenced off several items that the group had been carrying around for a while. He loaned money to Zamtap, scribed scrolls and paid to have his rapiers magic enhanced again. Aeron bought himself a headband to boost his already considerable intellect still further. Both Jebodiah and Ash were moved to make donations to temples, both giving over 200 gold pieces to the temples of their respective gods (Clangeddin & Sune respectively). True to his womanising form, Ash used his powers to cure a whore of her wasting disease, taking payment for the deed in her bed for a few days, and still finding time to pen a letter to his aunt.

The party were the toast of the Bloody Cutlass for the time they stayed there, the Innkeeper having had Garx stuffed and mounted upside down to the ceiling of the taproom, the mounted Phase Spider drawing in considerable extra business, to the extent that when the group mentioned that they were heading towards Chult, he asked the group to bring him back some dinosaur heads for additional decoration, seeing a lucrative line of business in luring adventurer types to his establishment.

Still all good things must come to an end, and the group boarded Tisiphone and set sail across the Shining Sea towards Tashluta. All went peacefully for two days, Captain Baeran's warnings about encountering the Rundeen proving to be unfounded. It was in the early evening though of Nightal 1st when the lookout in the crow's nest called out "Land Ahoy", only to be met with a stern rebuke from the Captain who pointed out that they were more than a day from land. It was then that the "sandbank" started moving towards the ship at speed, and as it got closer, so it became obvious that it was a Dragon Turtle.

The group immeditaly began casting spells to fortify themselves in various ways, as the creature surged towards them and rammed the prow of the Tisiphone, the impact making everyone aboard totter a little, and knocking Ash clear off his feet. Aeron rushed to the side railing, grabbing it to steady himself and he exhausted the Turtle with a well placed ray, though it did not deter the monsters attack, as it swam around the side of the ship, reared its beaked head up out of the water and blasted most of those aboard with scolding hot steam, catching Aeron, Jebodiah, Zamtap and Ash in the blast, though only Zamtap seemed to be seriously wounded by the attack. Gylippus, withdrew to the stern of the ship, keeping himself out of range of the creature, yet ensuring he could see it clearly, and magic missiled it. Seeing how little effect the missiles had on the huge turtle, Aeron decided that someone would have to take the fight to the beast, and cast Fly on Jebodiah, Ash lending a hand to bolster the dwarf by healing his burn wounds from the steam blast.

Jebodiah swigged back a healing potion also, and then launched himself through the air towards the turtle, smacking its head with his axe, but getting bitten in return, and then swatted with a large webbed claw too. Ki and Ash shot the creature with crossbow and pistol, as Aeron used another ray on it, this time sapping its strength. Gylippus had less luck though, his attempt to blind it failing. Jebodiah swooped back down, axe crunching down against the turtles shell and cracking it badly, the creature responding with claw and bite, both inflicting further wounds on the flying dwarf. On the ship, both Ki and Ash fire again, and having healed himself from the effects of the steam blast, Zamtap casts Wield Skill and draws his own pistol to join in the missle assault. Aeron cuts loose then with a Scintillating Sphere, his most powerful offensive spell, blasting the rear of the turtle to make sure he does not catch Jebodiah in the explosion, and seeing the turtles attacks lessening after the rays that Aeron had cast, Gylippus follows suit, also enfeebling the huge turtle.

At which point, suffering from his wounds, Jebodiah flew straight up and out of the turtles reach, its beak snapping up after him, but narrowly missing his boots as he swigged back another healing potion. Ki's crossbow bolt bounced off the turtles shell, as it dived out of sight and feebly swam away to recover from its wounds and live to hunt another day.

In the late afternoon on Nightal 3rd, the Tisiphone pulled into the great caldera harbour of Tashluta, and Captain Baeran informed the group that he would be staying in port a couple days in case they should need to depart again, but after that he would be heading back north. The party paid a boy on the docks for some information about the city, learning its rough layout and the names of the prominent temples. Deciding that the House of the All Seeing Eye, a vast temple to Savras is their best bet to find information on the Yuan-ti, the group decided to head there tomorrow, stopping at an Inn for the night, choosing to take up residence at The Crushed Coils, it having a reassuring name. Ash uses his charm and good looks to seduce one of the serving wenches.

Nightal 4th dawned with a light rain washing the filth from the streets of the city, the group glad that they picked an Inn halfway up the cladera slope, realising now why the locals regard down by the docks to be the worst parts of the city. Making their way through the city, they come to the largest temple to Savras in all the Realms, and gain an audience with High Seer Damai, one of the senior priests, who listens to the partys entreaties about what the Yuan-ti are up to, but remains sceptical and insists on a suitable donation before he will scry on Esau Enoch whish the group eventually agree too, handing over the monies to pay for a casting of Greater Scrying. Alas, it proves fruitless, as try as he might Damai cannot force his spell through the snakeman scientists considerable force of will. The party ask him to try again tomorrow, but this time they intend for him to scry on Shan Hsi...

*DM's Notes:*

Well after re-equipping themselves and spending the loot they gained from the orc pirates, the group are back on the move. I threw in the Dragon Turtle as a nice challenge, it being only a little above the groups CR, but as it was going to be the only encounter of the trip I was sure that they could handle it, and it was a nice boost to their experience.

I like the way Tashluta is described in the Serpent Kingdoms book, it was really easy to picture what it looks like (I basically just thought of it as a larger version of Cauldron from the Dungeon magazine Adventure Path, but with half the city gone and a harbour in its place). The party won't be there long, and won't be attacked there either (cos they were starting to get nervous about cities, having been attacked in every one thus far, figured I'd cut them a break in this one... they'll get plenty attacked soon enough!).


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Four*

Before leaving the temple though, Jebodiah pays for a scrying on his mother, being worried about her as he left home without any annoucement, simply vanishing from the Citadel to find his way in the world. He is relieved that the scrying works, and he watches in the bowl for a while as she works running the family brewery, though he can see by the lines in her forehead, that she is worried about something or someone.

As the others head back to the Crushed Coils for the day, Gyllipus ducks intoan alleyway and uses his hat of disguise to shift appearance. For the next couple hours he keeps watch on their Inn in a variety of guises, looking to see if anyone else is observing the place, having gotten fed up of being attacked in cities. Though he is as sneaky as can be, his surveillance proves fruitless, and eventually he gives up and heads inside for a drink with the others.

Nightal 4th dawned bright and sunny, and the party roused themselves and headed back up the sloping streets towards the House of the All Seeing Eye, Aeron, Ash, Zamtap and Gylippus having taken to casting Endure Elements on themselves each morning to ease the sweltering heat of the tropics. The group locate Damai and this time their donation is rewarded with success, the High Seer easily able to scry on Esau's oriental bodyguard, he seemingly never more than a dozen feet from his pureblood master. they watch in a mizture of fascination and horror as they see the scientist inspecting a chamber filled with the large glass tubes they saw at Wolfhill House, each containing a growing Megaloman clone, there being at least a hundred in the room they see.

As the scrying continues they see Esau and Shan walk out onto a balcony, overlooking a plaza amidst the ruins of a vast jungle city, sat on the shore of a lake with mountains in the distance. Damai is able to recognise the place, having scryed it in the past, as Ss'inthee'ssaree. What troubles them more is what they can see in the plaza, hundreds of Megalomen, organised into regiments and training. Remaining with the nefarious pair, they see them enter a laboratory where a large lizard with bony plates running down it's back (which Damai identifies as a type of Dinosaur called a Stegosaurus), is strapped down and clearly being experimented upon, Esau injecting fluids into it. Damai mentions that the Yuan-ti have adjusted many of the dinosaurs of the Black Jungles with a process called Ti-Khana, which gives them some Yuan-ti properties, and a more vicious mindset.

Breaking the scrying eventually, he outlines that the group have a near impossible mission to reach the city by the only route he knows of, through the jungles, stating it would take at least a couple tendays to get there, and they would be relentlessly attacked the entire time, gylippus summarising everyones feelings when he states unequivocally "To the hells with that idea!" It is then that Damai admits that there may well be another who might know of a better route, though he is somewhat chagrined to admit that one not in Savras's service might know more than he, he suggests the group travel to the ruins of Procalith to consult the Seer there.

As they are leaving the temple, intent on getting to the docks before the Tisiphone sets sail, the group are met by an old man escorted by a half dozen armed and armoured guards. He introduces himself as the Farseer, the high priest of the temple. Having been told about what was seen in the scrying bowl, he states that he will do what he can to persuade Tashluta's leaders to get the city ready for an attack, and he gifts the party with a chest of coins and a half dozen healing potions, to give them what aid he can spare, wishing them the best of luck on their quest.

Rushing down to the docks, the group manage to get aboard their ship before it sets sail, and they inform Captain Baeran that they need to head east down the coast towards Procalith. Arriving there in the evening of Nightal 6th, the ship anchors off the coast and the party row ashore in the lifeboats, camping out in a wrecked plaza, with no weapons worn or on show, as Damai had instructed them.

Towards morning, Gylippus and Jebodiah are on watch when a strange man, looking for all intents like a 3' tall dwarf with white hair, bald on top and bare of chin, dressed in red walks into view, smiling enigmatically, and asking them their business. There is some bargaining for a few minutes as the Seer does not wish to name a price, insisting that the group pay what they think is a fair price for the information they seek, this conflicting with Gylippus coin-counting nature, he not wanting to pay any more than he must, especially when the only currency that the Seer will accept is magic. Eventually though, the roguish wizard settles on handing him one of the brooches Zamtap made recently, and gains the location of Dowinn's Lode, an abandoned gold dwrf mining colony, a half days travel away from the ruins, the halls of which stretch under the Delphin Mountains, and emerge in the jungles only a couple days to the north of the city they seek.

Having woken by now, Aeron decides to hand over a wand, wanting to know what lives in the old dwarf halls, learning only though that the lower level that exits into the jungles is home to Troglodytes and Trens, the Seer claiming ignorance of what dwells in the upper levels, stating that his area of expertise are the jungles and the Yuan-ti who live there, not dwarves. Having heard about the fabled Rod of Auglad from Captain Baeran, Ki hands over a potion to try and purchase the location of the artifact, but learns only that it is somewhere within the city, and it was placed there, centuries ago by the Magister of the time.

Before leaving, the Seer gives the party one last piece of information, charging nothing for it. It states that the Yuan-ti are more active now than they have been for centuries because their god thrashing against his chains, has invigorated them, and this has awakened their masters, the dreaded sarrukh, who created the snakemen in their image.Leaving them with that thought to mull over, the Seer vanishes, some amongst the group hearing the sound of scales sliding over stone as the real creature departs, it having used a projected image to address them.

Making preparations to depart, the group let Baeran know that they will not be needing his services anymore, and they sell him the horses and pony that they had been transporting on the ship, knowing that they will be of no use to them underground or in the jungles.

*DM's Notes:*

A no combat session this one, but heavy on the roleplay from all my group, for which I am justifiably proud. I got a few laughs as I decribed just what the "Seer" looked like, obviously modelling him after Dungeon Master from the old D&D cartoon, choosing that image both for the obvious comedy appeal, but because my players had been joking a while back about putting me in that outfit, so figured I'd work it in somehow.

Dowinn's Lode is a hybrid, the name taken from the MUD I build, where it is the name of the evil dwarf town, while the maps for the place are coming from the 2E adventure Axe of the Dwarvish Lords (with a slight adjustment to the compass, so West becomes North, East becomes South, and some minor tweaking to the maps to fit them together in the way I want). So with that in mind, the next few sessions will be a good old fashioned Dungeon Crawl as they make their way under the mountains, through halls infested with monsters (and probably a few traps) in what I hope will be a fun homage to the Mines of Moria.


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## Brakkart

*The Party With No Name*

Figured it was about time that I posted the current stats for the group, as it's been a few sessions since the last such post, and there have been some changes:

*Alastair* Gylippus CN Human Rogue3/Wizard3
*Gareth* Zamtap N Human Cleric6 (Gond)
*Dan* Edward "Ash" Hamilton LG Human Paladin6 (Sune)
*Phillip* Aeron Greycastle NG Air Genasi Wizard6
*Tony* Ki Tendragion LN Human Rogue3/Monk2/Ranger1/Thief Acrobat1
*Matt* Jebodiah Bugman CG Dwarf Barbarian3/Fighter3

What with Richard leaving the group, Mark never showing up (not seen him in a month at least now with no explanation as to why, hence why I've now removed him from the group list), and Dan's character dying, plus almost everyone gaining in level since the last time the group stats were posted, the unnamed party now looks quite different.

Ki has chosen a prestige class eventually, and Jebodiah, Gylippus and Zamtap are either one or two levels from taking the classes they are aiming towards.


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## Brakkart

*Adjusted Book list*

This is a revision of the book list allowed for use in the campaign, both expanded and reorganised. As before the DM reserves the right to ban the use of anything from any book, though the only existing ban is on oriental themed classes from the Complete series, as well as the Warlock class.

Player Books

3.5 Players Handbook
3.5 Dungeon Masters Guide
3.5 Monster Manual
Complete Warrior
Complete Arcane
Complete Divine
Complete Adventurer
Player's Guide to Faerun
Races of Faerun
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Magic of Faerun
Faiths and Pantheons
Champions of Valor (out Oct 2005)
Frostburn
Epic Level Handbook
Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog
Official WotC Errata

Dungeon Masters Books (in addition to those listed above)

Serpent Kingdoms
Ssethregore: In the Coils of the Serpent Empire
Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerun
Lost Empires of Faerun
Underdark
Shining South
Silver Marches
Lords of Darkness
Unapproachable East
Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor
Champions of Ruin (out May 2005)
Waterdeep: City of Splendors (out June 2005)
Book of Vile Darkness
Dragon Magazine
Dungeon Magazine
Monster Manual II
Monster Manual III
Fiend Folio
Slayer's Guide to Yuan-ti
Slayer's Guide to Kobolds
Slayer's Guide to Lizardfolk
Slayer's Guide to Troglodytes
Draconomicon


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Five*

After several hours of trekking up an old mountain trail that wound its way up into the Delphin Mountains from Procalith, the party finally spotted the entrance to Dowinn's Lode, a fortified gatehouse built into cliffs on the far side of a dirty lake, crossed by a single stone bridge, the causeway ending at the cavernous opening in the cliffs that was the entrance hall itself. Above the gate loomed a set of enclosed battlements.

Deciding that they were not going to be lucky enough to get inside without a fight, Ki opted to go first and headed across the bridge, only to be ambushed by the Darktentacles lurking in the lake, its rubbery tendrils lashing out towards him. Seeing this threat emerge, Ash, Jebodiah and Zamtap moved towards their comrade, the priest chanting a prayer on everyone to bolster them for the battle to come. As the group walked out onto the bridge, so the kobold archers inside the battlements, loosed a volley of arrows at them, though only one struck home, lightly wounding Ash. Aeron walked up behind Jebodiah and boosted the dwarf's already considerable strength... and then things got really nasty.

Two fireballs erupted around the clustered group in quick succession as the kobold sorcerors lent their aid to the battle, the blasts hitting almost the entire group, though having very little effect on Aeron, he having cast several protective magics on his way up the trail towards the old dwarf hold. Hurting badly, Ki retreated back across the bridge, the Darktentacles following as best as it can, hauling some of its bulk up out of the waters and onto the edge of the bridge. Angry and hurting, Zamtap let loose with a Sound Burst on the kobolds, but the spell had little effect, killing a single archer and only slightly wounding one of the sorcerors and a sargeant. Seeing how ineffectual his spell was, and hurting badly from the fireballs himself, he headed back off the bridge also.

Thinking tactically, Ash laid hands on Jebodiah, healing him of much of the fire damage and the dwarf then hurled himself at the Darktentacles, charging into it with wild abandon. Standing alone in the middle of the bridge, made Ash a tempting target and sure enough every kobold archer launched arrows at him, though all either missed or clattered harmlessly off the paladins armour plating. Deciding to show the priest how an offensive is done, Aeron grinned and launched a Scintillating Sphere at the gatehouse, the blast shooting back through the arrowslits and annihilating six of the archers in one go, as well as badly wounding a sargeant and the unharmed sorceror. Both of the kobold sorcerors decided then to swig potions, one drinking a vial to bolster his charisma, the other gulping down healing fluid. As more arrows harmlessly bounced off Ash's armour, Ki ran back across the bridge towards the entrance to the Lode, now that the vast majority of the archers had been dealt with.

Jebodiah's battle with the many limbed Darktentacles was not going so well though, the creature easily grappling him and starting to crush the life out of the barbarian. Seeing his stout friend in peril, Ash charged into the melee, hacking away at the monstrosity, though failing to distract it enough for it to release its grip on the dwarf, Jebodiahs struggles proving not equal to the task of freeing  himself from its clutches. Seeing Ki advancing towards the gatehouse, the few remaining kobold archers attempted to bring him down with their arrows, but fail to even hit him. Seeing the Darktentacles as the most pressing threat, Aeron launched a volley of magic missiles into the beast, and was answered in turn by both sorcerors launching volleys of the same into him, the missiles impacting harmlessly on his Shield though.

Both kobold sargeants took aim at Ki, injuring him, and the rogue changed direction then, charging into the Darktentacles also in an effort to rescue Jebodiah, as the creature was starting to head back towards the murk of the lake, his blow causing the creature to release its grasp on the dwarf and flee underwater, but to no avail, a vengeful Zamtap sending a Spiritual Warhammer to bludgeon the creature to death under the surface. Both Ash and Jebodiah breathed a sigh of relief, and swigged back healing potions, even as more arrows pinged off Ash's platemail and shield..

The group then sruged forwards across the bridge, Aeron in the lead, with Ash, Jebodiah and Ki in close pursuit, a web cast by one of the sorcerors failing to materialise as it was badly targeted, though the other sorcerors Magic Missiles struck home, doing what the archers arrows could not, and wounding Ash. Activating his healing brooch, Zamtap advanced back across the bridge, grinning as arrows bounced harmlessly off him.

The two sorcerors now clearly the greatest threat to the group, Aeron turned his attention on them, and stunned one with a Gedlee's Electric Loop, the other sorceror and both of the kobold sargeants retreating into the upper level of the gatehouse then, out of sight and range of the group as they abandoned the battlements and headed to the second line of defense, though not before the sorceror blasted Zamtap with another fireball, dropping the priest in the middle of the bridge, only the regenerative magic of his brooch keeping him from passing to the Fugue Plane. Seeing their priest down, both Ki and Ash raced back across the bridge, Ki intent on reaching him to see if he was dead or not, while Ash attempted to draw the kobold archers attention. Inside the gatehouse, Jebodiah advanced down the entrance hall, being pelted with rocks from murder holes in the ceiling as he headed towards the still intact third and fourth portcullises, the first two having been long since broken open.

In the entrance of the gatehouse, Aeron launched a volley of Magic Missiles at the stunned sorceror, being answered in turn by a fireball as the rival spellcaster snapped out of his trance. Out on the bridge, Ki tapped Zamtap with his healing wand, but the touch had little effect on the priests considerable wounds, while Ash did his best to provide a distraction at a safe distance from the rogue and fallen priest. Inside the gatehouse, Jebodiah set about the task of making the third portcullis less intact, Stormcleaver clanging again and again into the sturdy bars as he stubbornly cut his way through, being pelted the whole time from above to the sound of kobold laughter and taunts.

Casting Horizikaul's Boom on the sorceror still at the battlements, Aeron smiled in satisfaction hearing the kobolds death scream. Ki tapped Zamtap again with his wand, restoring the priest enough to wake him, he then drinking a healing potion and standing up. Seeing the gondsman up on his feet again, Ash headed back to where Aeron was stood in the entrance of the gatehouse. Growling at the annoyance of trying to work whilst being pelted, Jebodiah took a break from hacking at the bars and drank a healing potion of his own, while Aeron took advantage of a murder hole opening above to cast another Gedlee's Loop on the sorceror up there, stunning him. Both Ki and Zamtap healed their wounds and headed back across the bridge towards where Aeron and Ash were gathered. Deciding to copy Aeron's tactic, Ash drew his pistol and shot up a murder hole, killing a kobold above, but suffering as a basket of rocks was dropped on him, as did Jebodiah as he drank yet another potion of healing...

*DM's Notes:*

Well this was a hell of a session. I honestly didn't expect the group to do as much running back and forth as they did (and this pattern continues in the next session!), and had expected them to get into the hold proper this session. Maybe I overestimated them, or the dice just weren't on their side this time, but the assault on Dowinn's Lode parte one  sure was a lot of fun to run. Having said that, the group were minus Gylippus this week, and thus lacking in spellpower (and sneakiness), leaving Aeron to take on two sorcerors singlehanded (which credit to him he did very well).


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Six*

Standing in the entrance to the gatehouse, Aeron watched the ceiling carefully, and when one of the murder holes opened he cast Steel Dance on his twin daggers, and sent the blades soaring up through the opening with the instruction to attack anything that moved up there, with much screaming and cursing being heard below as the startled kobolds above suddenly found themselves in melee with the enchanted blades. With the kobolds above distracted for a while, Gylippus, Ki and Zamtap raced across the bridge into the relative safety of the gatehouses entry hall, as Jebodiah continued to batter his way through the third portcullis, finally chopping through and being saved a repeat of his labours, as Zamtap stoneshaped an opening around the side of the fourth portcullis.

Jebodiah moved around the fourth portcullis then to throw his weight against the huge stone doors that marked the entrance way into the hold proper, but to little effect. Aeron remained at the entrance to the gatehouse though, adamant that the party should retreat, and return the next day to continue breaking in when they were healed up. His words had little effect, as while Zamtap healed the groups wounds, Gylippus sent a fireball from his wand up through a murder hole, wiping out a good number of the kobolds above as they were no longer being slaughtered by the flying swords.

Jebodiah strained against the stone doors, grunting and shoving, but remained unable to shift them, even with Ki trying to lend a shoulder to the effort. Zamtap continued healing the dwarf, and Gylippus sent another fireball into the hall above them, killing more of the kobolds and ending the rain of rocks at last. He then ran to join Jebodiah, Ash and Ki, the foursome hurling themselves at the stone doors as one, and finally shoving them open, only to be met with a hail of arrows, as they saw that the doors opened in a small hall with a high ceiling, the walls on the upper floor dotted with arrow slits.

Falling back from the onslaught of arrows, the arrowheads exploding into flame on impact, the majority of the party finally heeded Aeron's calls from the mouth of the gatehouse to pull back and return tomorrow, starting to move that way. All that is apart from Ash and Gylippus, who headed into the storm of arrows, the paladin shielding the sneaky mage, as they made their way to a side door, where Gylippus got to work on the lock, as arrows clattered off Ash's shield.

Aeron though was having problems of his own, the remaining sorceror having returned with his apprentices, the trio blasting him with magic missiles constantly in an effort to bring his shield spell down. Deciding to flee before that happened, Aeron ran across the bridge and away down the trail, in his haste to get away forgetting just how long a range the Fireball spell has, the senior sorceror blasting him off his feet more than 200 feet from the gatehouse entrance, the genasi wizard remaining down, lifeblood seeping out. Seeing this from the entrance of the gatehouse, the others quickly realised that running wasn't an option, the sorcerors above would likely pick them off as they fled, so they headed back towards where Ash and Gylippus were, while Ki raced towards the fallen Aeron. The kobold sorcerors though didn't blast him, instead heading back to their quarters in the hold to rest.

Reaching Aeron, Ki quickly restored him to health with the use of his healing wand, the wizard quaffing a potion and the pair headed back towards the entrance then, even as Gylippus finished picking the lock and the party hastily cleared out of the murder hall and into a large section of tunnels and chambers, that from the defaced murals on the walls used to be the visitors quarters. Hastily building a barricade from wooden doors they tore from their frames and wood shaped together, the party settled down for a nervous nights sleep, badly in need of the rest.

*DM's Notes:*

Well they finally got inside, albeit with a lot of running back and forth and even more arguing. Phil was very determined to have the group back out of the gatehouse and rest down the mountain, and to be fair he almost got his way. It was only when he got fireballed on his way down the trail that the rest realised that it was an all or nothing attack, and returned to the front. Dan & Alastair worked well together and have since changed seats at the table so that they sit  together, to better coordinate tactics.

They are inside Dowinn's Lode now, still a long way to go before they get out the south end of the hold though. I'm thinking most of not all of the group should gain a couple levels on negotiating their way through the Lode, which should put them at about 9th level for their attack on the Yuan-ti city.


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## Kurzak T

*Awesome!*

Two updates in a day!    

Frontal assault is usually not a great way to go...   

Just want you to know I'm really enjoying your story hour Brakkart, keep up the good work!


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## Brakkart

Kurzak T said:
			
		

> Two updates in a day!
> 
> Just want you to know I'm really enjoying your story hour Brakkart, keep up the good work!




Woo hooo!! Feedback and praise! Thank you, was beginning to wonder if anyone besides me and my players read this thread. As for the two updates, yeah its been a while since I posted anything, had 3 sessions worth to write up. Two down, one to go. Brain feels a bit fried after writing up the first two though, but I'll do my best to get the latest session log up tomorrow.


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## Kurzak T

I'm usually just a lurker/reader, but you've posted a lot without much feedback and I didn't want you to get discouraged.  I enjoy this kind of adventure log format.  It makes me feel like I was at the table with you guys.


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## Brakkart

Kurzak T said:
			
		

> I'm usually just a lurker/reader, but you've posted a lot without much feedback and I didn't want you to get discouraged.  I enjoy this kind of adventure log format.  It makes me feel like I was at the table with you guys.




I'll freely admit I was starting to get that way, hence the long gap between posting the logs for sessions 24 and 25. And thanks, that is exactly why I write the logs this way, because I think it makes it easier for those people who aren't in my group to connect with the storyline. Also the reason why I include the player handouts (where possible).

Still I have a LOT more to write, assuming this campaign doesn't end prematurely, it should run up to and maybe into Epic levels, theres a lot more to this plot than the PC's have discovered thus far.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Seven*

Pairing up, Zamtap and Ash took first watch, with Ki and Aeron on second, and as Aeron's ring of sustenance was now functioning properly, he took third as well with Gylippus, Jebodiah happily sleeping the whole night through. After waking, wolfing down rations for breakfast and breaking camp, the group made their way through the abandoned visitors quarters to a section of the corridor blocked by a double portcullis with 10' of tunnel between them, the passageway continuing deeper into the Lode behind the barriers. Working together, Ash and Jebodiah heaved on the first portcullis, and lifted it up, jamming it there and walked forwards towards the second portcullis, their weight triggering the trapdoor in the floor!

Falling 40' down onto spikes was bad enough, but the party then realised the scale of their predicament. The trap was too wide for Ash and Jebodiah to be able to brace themselves against the walls and climb out that way, and the walls were sheer stone. Further, as a quick search of backpacks above proved, nobody had thought to bring along rope. What ensued was a long heated argument (punctuated by moans from below), that was eventually resolved by Aeron's ingenious idea of stripping the guy ropes from Zamtap's tent, tying them around his ankles, while Zamtap and Gylippus braced against his weight and him hanging down the side of the pit. Now able to see the pair below, he was able to levitate them out using his innate ability as an air genasi.

While Zamtap busied himself with healing the pairs wounds, Gylippus set to work disabling the pits mechanism, jamming it open, and once that was done, the group edged past it on the narrow 1' lip around the drop. Wrenching open the second portcullis, the group advanced deeper into the old dwarf hold, discovering a room that held the winches for the portcullises, and then a small temple to Vergadain, horribly defaced with excrement smeared over virtually ever surface. Though they could make out several smaller chambers branching off from the main room, none of the group wished to enter and endure the smell and any possible contagion within.

Opening another door, the party advanced cautiously into what appeared to be a scribes quarters, Gylippus and Jebodiah heading up the group, one checking for traps, the other opening the various doors when the rogue pronounced them safe. Finding an old scriptorium, Jebodiah elected to search the room, while Ash took over his place beside Gylippus as chief door opener.

Unfortunately for Ash, the next door they opened, led into a large lounge, with a roaring fireplace... and five kobold sargeants, three of whom immeciatly lauched themselves at him, while a fourth hung back and the fifth ran from the room calling for aid. A furious melee broke out, with Ash trapped in the doorway and only slowly able to advance into the room, the rest of the group hanging back behind him until he cleared enough room for Ki to dart in and tumble around to add his daggers to the fray. The fourth sargeant then charged into the monk and the fifth returned from where he had run too, with reinforcements hard on his heels. Gylippus cast a Mage Armor on himself and ducked into the room, seeking a good target, only to be laid low as the remaining sorceror from the previous day dropped him with a Tasha's Laughter, the rogueish wizard suddenly finding the whole fight hilarious.

With the sorceror came two priests of Kurtulmak and the kobolds King as well. Hearing the ruckuss coming from the chamber through a door in the scriptorium, Jebodiah opened it and saw another door 5' in front of him, the noise clearly coming from the other side of that. Stepping forward to it though, he again felt that plummeting feeling as he fell 60' down a narrow shaft, and then slowly started to climb his way back out, bracing himself against the sides of the shaft, all the while kept company by the distant sounds of carnage.

Back in the lounge, Ki, Zamtap and Aeron were making short work of the sargeants, a couple Gedlee's Loops stunning them, for the monks daggers and the priests warhammer to dispatch with ease. Without them to concern him, Ash charged across the room, ignoring the maces swung at him by the intervening priests and barrelled into the sorceror, cutting him down before he could lay waste to the group with any fireballs. Though one of the kobold priests then simply healed the sorceror up, as the King advanced on the paladin to try and bring down the man who was clearly the greatest threat to them. Chopping the sorceror down again, Ash then turned on the King who was being bolstered by one of the priests, the other being handily dispatched by a well placed Scintillating Sphere cast by Aeron who had now moved into a corner of the lounge. As the tide of battle swung in the favour of the party, so Jebodiah finally hauled himself out of the pit.

*DM's Notes:*

Wow did I laugh this session. The pit traps were funny enough, but the way the group didn't bring any rope was just classic, as everyone started blaming everyone else with the old "Well I didn't bring any rope cos you said you had it!" Classic comedy, and then Jebodiah falling down what (in my opinion) was a really obvious pit trap and thus the group having to fight the full might of the best the kobold tribe have to offer, without their barbarian was the icing on the cake. Ash fought really well this session, and Aeron is scarily good at picking his spells, setting up the kobolds for Ki and Zamtap to knock them down. I only hope the next session is as fun as this one was.


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## systor1

Thank You, for sharing the running trials of The Party With No Name with us. I admit to being one of those lurker/looters who mine EnWorld for help and Ideas. But Your story hour is as good to read as any of the many novels I have read. Plese keep up the great work.


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## Brakkart

systor1 said:
			
		

> Thank You, for sharing the running trials of The Party With No Name with us. I admit to being one of those lurker/looters who mine EnWorld for help and Ideas. But Your story hour is as good to read as any of the many novels I have read. Plese keep up the great work.




Ummmm... wow. That is very high praise indeed. Thank you, and I'll do my best to keep writing in the style that I do.

As for The Party With No Name, they are actually now thinking of changing their name every time someone asks who they are, so they might soon become The Party of a 1001 Names!


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## Polynike

hi there brakkart great job. took me a few days but finally read it all. heres to a quick update
subscribed to thread as well

keep up the good work dudes


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## Zamtap

Brakkart said:
			
		

> As for The Party With No Name, they are actually now thinking of changing their name every time someone asks who they are, so they might soon become The Party of a 1001 Names!




it'll take a while, surrendering kobolds have more important things on their minds


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## Ariakor

Hey Brakkart!

I really like reading your story hour, good way to do it like that. keep up the good work 

I originally started reading it because i was on the lookout for ideas for my FR campaign, but i return frequently to see how the story is developing. really great


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Eight*

Running down the corridor and into the lounge, Jebodiah caught up with the rest of the group in time to see the King fall to a combined attack by Ki and Ash, the paladin dealing the killing blows to the kobold monarch. At that the resolve of the remaining kobold priest broke, he throwing down his mace, and prostrating himself on the floor, tail up in the air.

From the priest the party learn that the main passageway between the gatehouse and further into the Lode was collapsed by the dwarves when they departed, but that the kobolds found a hidden tunnel which leads south. They also learn that the only group of kobolds to explore down this tunnel, several years back, never returned. In return for sparing the rest of the tribe, the party take the magical items of both the master sorcerors, the king and the priests, gaining a couple wands, a belt, a short sword, a couple pairs of bracers and a nice haul of various potions.

With the kobold tribe massively depleted in strength and numbers, the party feel safe enough in camping out in the upper level of the gatehouse for a day to rest up before proceeding further into the old dwarf hold, and they observe the tribe packing their things, they knowing that this home has become unsafe now that the portcullises have been breeched and the major strength of the tribe wiped out, the remaining priest, warriors and junior sorcerors knowing that they could never hope to defend the place against another attack.

So it was on Nightal 8th that the group opened the entrance to the hidden tunnel and proceeded further under the mountains, marching for more than 10 hours before the tunnel turned suddenly turned to the west and then again south, the sides of the tunnel featuring several doors. While Gylippus easily spotted and disarmed the first trap the party encountered (the mouldering kobold bones at the tunnel sides were a dead giveaway), the second proved tricker and a lightning bolt zapped along the length of the party )who were forced into single file by the narrowness of the passageway). Hanging back then, the others watched as Gylippus and Ash went to work, the sneaky wizard spotting and disarming traps and picking locks, while the burly paladin would take the risks by moving forward first or opening the doors.

To his credit, Gylippus only missed one trap, and that was because Ash got impatient and stepped ahead of the mages careful searching, getting blasted with a Flame Strike as a lesson in caution. Though the going was slow, it was safe from then on, and the party soon found a staircase leading down, and then a large hall in which a number of dwarven constructs were stood motionless, from the way their arms ended in hammers, picks and drills, it was clear that their primary use had been in mining. As the others studied a map engraved on one wall, Zamtap started examining the basic automatons, looking to pry loose a few parts for the Gondsman he was putting together.

It was while doing this that he noticed the constructs were all facing a central spot, and that lying there was the smashed form of a strange metallic beetle. Trying to move it,. he noticed the head of one of the constructs move to follow the beetles path, and so threw a blanket over it to conceal the beetle, dragging it away then without further inciting the constructs.

Dragging it into an adjacent chamber and (with a little help) hauling it onto a stone table, he set to work examining the strange thing, soon joined by the others, with Aeron and Gylippus taking an interest also, the rest of the group standing about and watching the trio get to work. the beetle turned out to be a very advanced type of construct, clockwork in nature, and between the three they soon worked out what it was... an Electrum Clockwork Horror. Explaining their finding to the rest of the group (along with a description of just what the horrors are capable of), there was some discussion on whether the party should turn back, no-one really wanting to confront a hive of the things.

Aeron and Zamtap were adamant though, they had to be destroyed, the genasi stressing that the horrors were a threat to Faerun every bit as nasty as the Yuan-ti, while the priest cited that such things were abominations in the eyes of his church, Gond's dogma being that the purpose of technology was to make life easier and serve humanity (and gnomekind too), not to annihilate them. Convincing the others that they had a hell of a fight ahead of them, the spellcasters in the party adjusted their selection of magics for ready on the morrow, taking into account the immunities of their foes to be. The party rested, knowing that they would need to be in full strength for the onslaught to come.

*DM's Notes:*

A session light on combat, but high on roleplay this week (who'd have thought that in the midst of a Dungeon Crawl?). I like to vary things. The evil DM in me was tempted not to have the ruined horror in the hall, and let the players walk into a battle unprepared. I decided against it as I have a lot of campaign plotted out after this and I do actually want to run it.

Having said that, I purposefully picked the Clockwork Horrors for a few reasons:

*1*. They are truly nasty opponents, and I was sure that Phillip and Gareth could really get some good roleplay out of facing them.
*2*. Zamtap is close to 8th level, which will be his first of Techsmith wherein he will gain a Gondsman (construct bodyguard). Thus I wanted a technological foe, so that he had a good source of the various mechanical bits and pieces he will build this thing out of, giving a logical reason for it to suddenly turn up.
*3*. I'm a big fan of Stargate SG-1 and the Clockwork Horrors make for a nice homage to the dreaded Replicators. This was commented on by most of the group!


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## williem-de'bloodie

shame i cant give ash a shotgun and let him wonder round blowing the crap out of the replicators/horrors, oh well sword it is


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## Fraggleonacid

Oh.  Stargate SG-1 <snore>.  Still, the Clockwork Horrors have been entertaining playmates so far.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Nine - Part One*

Waking on Nightal 9th after an undisturbed nights rest, the group started down the deep stairwell that the map on the wall showed linked the Citadel layer where they were, to the main habitation layer much deeper down in the mountains. For more than 2 hours, the group worked their way down seemingly endless staircases, which wound around and around, like a gigantic corkscrew sunk into the earth.

After a while, Jebodiahs knowledge of dwarf holds and his peoples construction habits paid off, and he let the others know they were nearing the bottom of the stairwell. Fully expecting a battle at the bottom with more of the clockwork horrors like the one they had examined the previous night, the group girded themselves in spells and protections. Whilst Jebodiah lit the heroism pipe they had recovered from Wolfhill House and smoked it, passing it around for all to benefit, both Aeron and Gylippus clad themselves in Mage Armor, bolstering that with added protection from arrows, the investigation of the destroyed horror having yielded the information that the things possessed a dart launcher. Ash cast a Protection from Evil on himself, while Zamtap's prayers clad him in a Magical Vestment.

So armoured, the group continued their descent to the foot of the stairs, whereupon both Zamtap and Ki activated their Shield of Faith brooches that the cleric had made back in Calimport, while Gylippus and Ash resumed their effective partnership, the rogue checking the floors and walls for traps, the paladin moving forward when the all clear was given, keeping himself and his nimble partner covered behind his vast shield.

Whilst effective however, this method did have one distinct drawback... it was slow going, and so while that pair continued their cautious advance into a large irregular shaped hall entering it from the bottom left corner, Jebodiah muttered something about "This is taking too long" and strode right past them to the first door he could see, getting shot twice for his troubles as darts were launched from several of the arrow holes high up on the walls of the hall, an electrum horror stationed behind each.

And then another volley of darts soared out of the darkness, another sinking into the dwarf through a break in his armour. At this Ash saw that he would be best placed providing cover for the door,.so Gylippus could get it open, and he ran up to stand between where the darts were coming from and the blundering barbarian, only to run right across a trap, the floor opening and depositing him 20' down in a spiked pit, though a fortunate fall ensured he remained unimpaled. Ki then broke from the rest of the group and ran up to beside Jebodiah. Zamtap activated his sunrod, so that everyone could see what was going on, the arrow slits and the majority of the hall snapping into view, as well as casting Wield Skill on Gylippus to bolster his lockpicking abilities. ducking behind his shield, Jebodiah swigged back a needed healing potion. Rolling his eyes and shaking his head at the sword swingers antics, Aeron calmly strolled up to the edge of the pit, and yanked Ash up out of it with his innate levitation power, setting him down on the pits edge where he had intended to put himself.

Another hail of darts was launched at Jebodiah and Ash, the dwarf grimacing as he got shot again, whilst the sound of clanging announced them pinging off Ash's shield leaving him unharmed. Zamtap chanted and created a Magic Circle against Evil around himself, moving up to be with the rest of the group then so that all might benefit from its warding magic. Drinking back another potion of healing, Jebodiah got out of the way of the door, so Gylippus could get to the lock to pick it, though his efforts to do so were thwarted by Ki's attempts to help.

Another round of clanging accompanied the rogues efforts, as more darts bounced off Ash's shield and armour, the paladin hunkered down behind his shield, standing as a living wall between the arrow holes and the rest of the group. without the darts to worry about, and no longer distracted by Ki's interference, Gylippus was easily able to get the lock open.

As yet more darts pinged off Ash's armour, a grunt of pain was heard, one of the horrors having shot at Aeron and hit the wizard, slightly wounding him. With the door unlocked and Ash busy on providing defense, the role of door opener went to Ki who duly opened it and the group peered around the framework into a short corridor which turned a slight corner and ended at another door. Entering this first corridor, Ki and Gylippus checked for traps as they went, neither finding or setting off any. Zamtap responded to Jebodiahs call for healing, using a charge from his Wand of Cure Light Wounds to help mend some of the many perforations the darts had put in the dwarf, the barbarian then ducking into the corridor, swiftly joined by Aeron.

Zamtap and Ash came under fire again, as another volley of darts was launched at them, the priest escaping unscathed, but for the first time a dart found a chink in the paladins armour and wounded him. Still covering for the others, he waited until Zamtap had entered the corridor, only then stepping through the doorway himself, even as Zamtap again tapped Jebodiah with his wand. Ki and Gylippus kept advancing towards the next door, cautiously looking for traps as they moved forwards, but finding none, finally reaching the door and finding it unlocked. Ki immediately opened it and found himself looking into another stretch of corridor, 20' long and ending in another door... as well as a pair of electrum horrors in the corridor, both of which opened fire, shooting their darts at him, neither hitting anything more than the doorframe though.

"Finally!! Something to fight" growled Jebodiah as he shoved his way past Ki and Gylippus and ran into battle, his fearsome axe slicing into one of the automated beetle-like creatures, the horrors own efforts to attack him back easily deflected by the dwarves axe and armour. Ash then joined the melee, his sword damaging the other horror, whilst Ki's efforts to get in on the action ended in faulire as he tried to somersault over the pair of horrors, getting stopped short as one reared up and lashed out with its fixed razor saw, slicing into the monk. After asking who was in need of any healing, Zamtap walked up behind Ash and saw to the Sunite's minor injuries, as Jebodiah finished the task of clearing a route to the next door, smashing aside both horrors, reducing them to scrap.

While Ki used his healing wand to patch himself up, and Zamtap busily gathered up some of the pieces of the smashed horrors for use as Gondsman components, Gylippus strolled up to the next door, and opened it, getting shot at by another brace of el;ectrum horrors, though he easily ducked out of the way of the launched projectiles. Seeing this new threat, Ash calmly advanced into combat though didn't manage to so much as scratch the horrors bodywork with his swordblow, the creature scuttling aside. Jebodiah rushed up, his axe brought down from overhead in a devastating arc to impact on the horror before him, and not even dent it, the blow sending vibrations back up his arms.

The horror he hit though was better at placing its blow and the razor saw sliced open the barbarians left leg, though the other one failed to find any gap in Ash's armour to exploit, unlike Ash who deftly jabbed his sword into its clockwork innards, mangling some of the workings. "Lets try this again" muttered Ki, leaping up and over the horrors and landing safely behind them this time, jabbing at one horror with one of his daggers and missing it completely! Seeing the blood on the floor from the wound in Jebodiah's leg, Zamtap used another charge from his wand to heal him, whilst at the back of the group Aeron and Gyllipus watched the chaos ahead with bemusement, adding commentary at times.

The battle continued with neither of the horrors able to get past their foes defences, the first being dispatched by Ash. Ki stabbed a dagger into the remaining horror, and Zamtap drew his warhammer, wading into the fray, but failing to hit the scuttling automaton, and getting cut by its razor saw too in the process. And then everyones ears rang, as in the close confines of the corridor Jebodiah brough Stormcleaver down on the electrum horror, annihilating the creatuire in a deafening peal of thunder as the axe's formidible thundering power activated, reminding everyone of just how aptly it was named. As most of the group brushed srpings, cogs and other pieces of shrapnel off themselves, Ash strode to the door at the end of this now cleared corridor section and opened it, looking into a small room with no other visible exits... a dead end.

Heading into the room, Gylippus, Ki and Aeron working together, run their hands over every inch of the walls and floor, eyes searching intently for any signs of a hidden doorway, and finding nothing. Heading back the way they came, the group assemble behind Ash at the door back into the main hall, the paladin opening the door and heading across the the next visible door, a storm of darts accompanying him entering the hall, one getting past his armour cladding and wounding him in the right shoulder. Zamtap activated his brooch of Lesser Vigor, and with Ash now in position to shield him, Gylippus dashed across the hall to the door, checking it over for traps and finding none.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Twenty Nine - Part Two*

An onslaught of darts is launched at Ash, Gylippus and even Jebodiah (who was stood in the doorway of the first corridor), injuring none of them but depleting the some of roguish wizards ward against arrows. As the storm of darts paused, the whirr heard as the horrors dart launchers reloaded, Zamtap dashed across the hall and stood over Gylippus, further shielding him. Again freed of the worry of being shot, the sneaky wizard was able to focus his intellect solely on the task of opening the door and did so, opening it into a short corridor, fifteen feet long and ending at another door, he heading inside, quickly followed by Ash. Seeing the door open, Ki, Jebodiah and Aeron all ran across the hall and darted inside it.

Every electrum horror in the hall opened fire on Zamtap, but to no avail, the darts either bouncing off his armour or missing him altogether, the floor of the hall now littered in dozens of spent darts. Searching the door at the end of the corridor, Gylippus discovered a nasty trap that would drop the ceiling on everyone inside. Hearing this, Aeron cast Shield on himself and stepped back out into the hall, while Jebodiah dashed back across the hall to the first corridor. Despite having survived the hail of darts unscathed, Zamtap  actually headed into the trapped corridor, passing Ash who walked out into the hall and stepped on another pit trap, the floor opening up under him, but he did not fall, as he was still affected by the levitation magic from earlier, hanging there above the yawning pit below.

As darts rebounded off his magical protections, Aeron walked to the side of the pit and reached out a hand for Ash to take hold of, dragging him back to safety with a mutter of "This is getting to be a bad habit of yours". Though the darts had no effect on Aeron save to batter down a little of his protective spells, one shot at Ash struck home. Working together Gylippus and Zamtap successfully disabled the ceiling trap, and hearing that bit of good news, Jebodiah ran back across the hall and headed into the second corridor to join them, eager to sink his axe into any new foes that might be on the other side of the door.

The horrors concentrated their shots then, aiming solely at Ki, but the nimble monk ducked, swerved and leapt out of the way, not one dart striking him. The horrors then had a new trick to demonstrate, one of the electrums having yielded its place behind an arrow slit to a superior gold horror, and this new foe blasted a lightning bolt into Ash, though the paladin dodged much of the blast. Ash drew his pistol then, shooting at the gold horror, but the shot impacted harmlessly on the wall to one side of the arrow hole. Wanting to get out of range of the blast, he strode off towards the third visible door. In the second corridor, Gylippus opened the door and came face to face with three electrum horrors and a gold horror too! All of them opened fire at him, damaging his protective spells with their darts, whilst Aeron and Zamtap were engulfed in a lightning bolt, the priest faring much worse than the air genasi wizard. Not waiting for them to advance, Jebodiah pushed past his comrades and smashed into an electrum horror, the lesser automatons forming a wall between the dwarf and their superior.

Out in the hall, Ash again came under heavy fire, but escaped unscathed, as did Jebodiah in close combat in the corridor. With the danger now of gold horrors recognised, both Zamtap and Aeron cast spells on themselves to resist the effects of electricity, while Gylippus cast Shield on himself. Smashing aside a horror, Jebodiah moved further into the new corridor section, striving to get at the gold horror.

Another lightning bolt sizzled in the corridor, badly wounding Jebodiah, the gold having fired through the ranks of its troops, the electricity having no effect on them, and they in turn had no effect on Jebodiah or Gylippus, attacking both with their razor saws but unable to score a telling blow on either opponent. Out in the hall, Ash slammed into the third door, trying his best to shoulder charge it down but his effort was for naught. With both himself and the dwarf hurting badly, Zamtap cast Mass Lesser Vigor on Ki, Jebodiah, Gylippus and himself to help close some of their wounds, while ahead in the corridor, the dwarfs axe hewed through the two remaining electrum horrors, reducing them to shards, as he closed to melee with the gold horror...

*DM's Notes:*

I think everyone had a lot of fun this session. We played through twenty rounds of combat in all, as the group began their assault on the Clockwork Horror's Lair. Despite this session being played on Friday 13th, this had to the luckiest night I have ever witnessed for dice rolls. I think almost everyone rolled at least 1 natural 20, some rolling several. It was only the second time that Stormcleavers power of thundering got activated. I'm glad I picked the Clockwork Horrors for this stage of Dowinn's Lode as they are great fun to run.


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## williem-de'bloodie

bloody pit traps


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## Fraggleonacid

williem-de'bloodie said:
			
		

> bloody pit traps





Heh.  You should probably stop bleeding on them then!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty*

Out in the hall Ash ducked behind his tower shield again, sending another volley of darts ricocheting away. He then slammed his sword into the third metal door, making a lot of noise but doing little else with the blow. Back in the second corridor, the gold horror tried to slice Jebodiah with its razor saw, but succeeded only in damaging itself, a piece of its armour plating coming loose exposing the gears of its innards. Casting a Cure Moderate Wounds on himself to recover some of the health he had lost to the golds lightning bolt, Zamtap yelled out to try and get Ash's attention but received no reply. Seeing an opening, Gylippus nimbly stepped in beside the gold horror, but his strike with his rapier was turned aside by the beetle-like constructs armour plating. Such did not stop Jebodiah's axe though, as Stormcleaver cut into the automaton with ease. Calmly watching the ongoing fight, Aeron simply swigged a healing potion.

Undeterred by another volley of darts bouncing off his armour, Ash continued his assault on the third door, but as he stepped back to swing, so he slipped on one of the hundreds of darts littering the floor and fell over, dropping his sword, though he quickly grabbed it again. Ki somersaulted over the gold horror then  and stabbed a dagger into the rear of the creature. The horror responded by blasting out another lightning bolt, hitting Zamtap with it, though the blast had no effect, the cleric now protected by his spell of energy resistance. Ignoring the horror, Zamtap tossed his sunrod out into the main hall to light it up, and lit up another of them. With the gold horror now having three foes around it, Gylippus was easily able to stab his rapier into its insides, dislodging a couple gears, and then everyone got showered in debris as Jebodiah's axe thundered on impact, utterly annihilating the horror.

Out in the hall, Ash pulled himself to his feet as darts pinged off him, no longer really caring about them, returning to attacking the door, managing to actually dent it this time. With the gold horror gone, the rest of the group moved up towards the door it had been guarding, with Ki checking the door over and announcing that he found no traps on it. With that Jebodiah pushed past and opened it, heading into another short corridor which ended at yet another door. Shrugging, he strode towards it, only for the floor to open under him, depositing him into a 80' spiked pit, to the cry of "Not agaiiiinn!!" heard by the others above, and then a whole lot of growling and snarling from the pits depths as having gotten impaled on 2 spikes, the pain had triggered the dwarfs berserker frenzy! Aeron walked up to the edge of the pit, peered down into its depths, and then walked back towards the main hall.

As darts rebounded off his armour and shield, so Ash battered the door again, a loud clang heard throughout the main hall as he put another dent in the metal door. Sighing, Zamtap and Ki got out the lengths of rope they had taken from the kobolds and started tying them together, calling down to the furious dwarf "We'll pull you out, but not until you calm down!", their only reply being curses and growls as the dwarf hauled himself off the spikes he was impaled on, and set about destroying them with his axe. Seeing that those two had things in hand to effect a rescue, Gylippus headed back towards the main hall also, heading after Aeron who then darted across the main hall to try and reach Ash, only to run across the opening to another pit trap that the paladin had avoided, and he fell 60' onto spikes, one impaling him through a leg, the wizard unconscious and bleeding to death at the base of the pit.

"Aeron!!" cried Ash, seeing the genasi drop into the hole, and hearing the scream of pain from below and then silence. Ignoring the hail of darts that pinged off him he ran and jumped into the pit after his friend, getting impaled himself once, but stretching out a hand across the base of the pit and laying it on the wizard, returning him from the brink of death. As Gylippus made his way across the hall to the lip of the newly opened obstacle, so the gold horror behind the arrow slits blasted lightning at him, though he easily avoided it. Down in the other pit trap, Jebodiah finally calmed himself down and tied the rope about himself that Zamtap and Ki lowered down. Healed now, Aeron stood up, pulling himself off the spike and drank a healing potion.

At the top of the pit it was Gylippus turn to take a pelting from the darts, a couple of them hitting to deplete his protection spell. He quickly made his way to the metal door and picked one of the doors three locks. With Zamtap and Ki braced on the other end of the rope, they hauling up the slack, Jebodah began climbing up out of the pit. Aeron had another way entirely of getting out of the pit he was stuck in, casting Fly on Ash who grabbed the wizard, aand soared up out of the trap to land near the door beside Gylippus..

With the paladin positioning himself to shield the wizards from as many of the horrors as he could, none of the ensuing barrage of darts had any effect on the three figures by the third door, and Gylippus was easily able to pick the second lock. For some reason though, the paladin got a bit overconfidant, and flew out into the middle of the hall, getting himself lightning bolted by the gold horror, the electricity badly hurting him, to teach him a lesson in humility.

Flying back to land in front of the wizards again, the next volley was also ineffective most of it bouncing off Ash's shield, as Gylippus picked the third lock and opened the door into a long corridor, seeing ahead 2 electrums and behind them 2 golds, he moving just inside to get out of the main hall. Seeing foes he could actually fight, Ash flew down the corridor, launching himself into an electrum, hiw sword tearing into the construct. alternating between getting pulled and climbing, Jebodiah nears the top of the pit, aided by Ki and Zamtap, the pair heaving on the rope to hasten the dwarfs ascent. Seeing the new group of horrors blocking the corridor ahead, Aeron muttered "I've had just about enough of this" and chanted, his spell bringing into being a sphere of telekinetic force, which he immediately sent hurtling down the corridor into an electrum, it having no effect though.

As darts smacked into him, Aeron could feel his protective spells energy depleting, the darts battering down his defences slowly but surely by sheer attrition. Ash easily parried the attacks of both electrums in the corridor, and then destroyed one. Gylippus stayed back for the moment, casting a Scorching Ray into his spell-storing rapier. Back in the other corridor, Zamtap and Ki finally hauled Jebodiah up out of the pit, while Aeron and Gylippus watched as both gold horrors blasted their lightning into Ash, the paladin teetering and then finally crashing to the ground. At that, Aeron dashed up the corridor, pulling a potion from his belt as he went, and ignoring the nearby horrors, forced the healing liquid down Ash's throat to bring him back from the brink of death. repaying the favour the paladin had done for him less than a minute before.

The remaining electrum horror in the corridor attacked Aeron with its razor saw, but narrowly missed. Seeing the danger to himself and the wizard, Ash grabbed Aeron and flew back down the corridor and out into the main hall, placing the genasi down beside Gylippus before he flew down into the nearby pit trap, and hovered there 20' down, using it as cover from the darts. Heading out into the main hall, Ki smirked as a dozen horrors launched their darts at him, and the gold blasted lightning towards him also, he evading every one of the multiple projectiles and nimbly sidestepping the bolt of electricity. Scuttling down the corridor towards the main hall, both gold horrors attacked Gylippus in melee, but neither was able to hit him. Zamtap saw to Jebodiah's wounds, casting a moderate healing spell on the barbarian. Gylippus saw how the battle was turning against the group, and fled back across the main hall, diving into the second corridor, to be met by Jebodiah heading in the opposite direction and gulping down a healing potion as he walked. Focusing his will power on the Defenestrating Sphere he created, Aeron sent it slamming into a gold horror, sending the creature bouncing off the ceiling and walls of the corridor, heavily damaging it.

While Ki and Aeron came under fire, neither were hit by the fussilade of darts, and Ash flew up out of the pit then and shut the third door, much to Aeron's annoyance, the wizard cursing "I need to see the sphere to control it!". Ki headed back into the the second corridor then, as a gold horror forced open the third door into the hall, pushing aside Ash who been trying to hold it closed against the construct, it then blasted a lightning bolt into Aeron but to no effect, the wizard avoiding some of the blast, his spell of energy resistance soaking up the rest of the electricity. Back in the second corridor, Zamtap caught up to Jebodiah and cast a Lesser Vigor on him with a wand, the dwarf then running across the hall towards the third door and the horrors there. Grinning in satisfaction, Aeron smashed the gold horror again with his sphere.

A storm of darts smacked into Jebodiah and Ash, catching both of the groups fighters off guard, the darts finding weak spots in their armour and hurting the pair of them. bleeding profusely, Ash left the fight in the third doorway to Jeb, and flew across the hall, back into the second corridor, seeking the healing magic of Zamtap. The gold horrors pushed their way into the hall now, lightning bolting Jebodiah and slicing Aeron. Using his wand of Lesser Vigor again, Zamtap cast the spell on Ash to start his wounds closing, the paladin though grumbling about how this would take too long. Responding to the lightning bolt, Jebodiah hewed a gold horror in half with his axe, as Aeron smashed the other around with his sphere, the wizard relishing the chance to really batter the things.

Seeing the genasi wizard as the greatest current threat, the electrums in the hall opened fire solely on him, further depleting his protective spells but failing to actually injure him. One attacked Jebodiah in melee though and lightly wounded him. Ki makes an effort to try and heal Ash, but the charge from his wand of cure light wounds does not have much effect. The gold horror behind the arrow slits fired its lightning bolt at Aeron, but had no effect on him, while the other remaining gold failed to score a hit on Jebodiah in melee. Zamtap saw to more of Ash's considerable wounds, laying a cure moderate wounds on the paladin, while Gylippus ran back into the hall, tumbling past the gold horror battling Jebodiah, as the dwarf failed to hit it. Aeron had more success though, battering the horror to scrap with his sphere.

Another onslaught of darts saw one of the annoying projectiles find a gap in Jebodiah's armour, lightly woundiong the dwarf as it embedded in him. Ki continued trying to heal Ash's wounds, but another of his wands charges did very little. Zamtap cast another healing spell on Ash, healing up a good number of the cuts and bruises on the Sunite. Gyllipus lent his aid to Jebodiah, trying to hit the electrum attacking the dwarf with his rapier, but not managing to get past its armoured shell, the dwarf missing also, though the beetle construct was unable to avoid Aeron's defenestrating sphere, getting battered about by it.

*DM's Notes:*

Week two of the ongoing battle vs the Clockwork Horrors, up to 34 consecutive rounds of combat now! The party are making progress, slowly but surely, and there were a couple moments this week that I imagine will be remembered years from now, namely Jebodiah falling down the pit trap and using his first Frenzy on the spikes at the bottom of it! And also Ash jumping into a 60' spiked pit in order to lay hands on Aeron. Now thats what I call self sacrifice!!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty One*

Jebodiah grunted in pain as another dart found its way past his armour, though none of the storm of projectiles had come anywhere near Aeron. Ki finally succeeded at providing a useful amount of healing to Ash with a touch of his wand, followed by Zamtap using a cure light wounds on the paladin. At that the cleric headed out into the main hall from the second corridor, and got lightning bolted by the gold horror up in the missile gallery for his troubles, though the bolt had no effect. Heading into the third corridor, Gylippus advanbced up to a bend and peeked around it, spying a gold and electrum horror a little distance away, and also a branching side passage. Jebodiah marched up behind him and peeked also, and then drank another of his healing potions, having emptied much of his potion belt by now. Aeron headed just inside the third corridor and leant against a wall to catch a breath as his sphere finally vanished.

Zamtap ignored the darts in the main hall as they bounced off his armour and spells. As the barrage ended and the whirr could be heard of the horrors reloading, so Ki and Ash dashed out of the second corridor across the hall towards the third, Zamtap walking past them and into the corridor to catch up with Gylippus and Jebodiah. Seeing that the rest of the group were close behind, Gylippus handed his everburning torch to Jebodiah and then crept across the corridor and darted into the mouth of the side passage. Jebodiah activated his Shield of Faith brooch as he readied himself for more combat.

Back in the main hall, the electrum horrors open fire at Ash but to no effect and many of them then abandon their positions behind the various arrow slits, heading along a back passageway towards the party. Ash and Ki ran into the corridor and move up to where Jebodiah and Zamtap are waiting, Ki walking out to get a better look down the corridor at the horrors waiting there, and getting shot at by the electrum, the dart narrowly missing him though. Zamtap cast a cure light light wounds on Jebodiah and handed off a potion of healing to Ash as the cleric did his best to get the group healthy again. Gylippus darted out from his hiding place and attacked the electrum horror with his rapier, but his blow failed to do more than scratch the constructs armoured shell, as Jebodiah moved up to join in the fight also, he glanced down the side passage that Gylippus had been hiding in, his excellent dwarven vision spotting another four electrums further down that way.

The electrums attacked Jebodiah with darts and Gyllipus with razor saw, but were unable to wound either of the pair. As ash swigged back the cure moderate potion that Zamtap had handed him, Ki joined Gyllipus in battle with the electrum, stabbing it with his claw bracer, but getting cut in return by the gold horror's razor saw as it launched itself into him.Zamtap then cast a spell on Ash to allow him to resist electricity, and he then walks up to beside Jebodiah. Gylippus fails again to stab the electrum he is fighting and steps back from it, allowing Jebodiah to take his place, but the barbarian is similarly unable to score a telling blow.

The same could not be said of his foe though, as the electrum jabbed its razor saw into Jebodiah's right shin wounding him. Ki and Zamtap remained unhurt by the efforts of the other electrums to harry them with saw and darts, the group of four remaining in their place in the side passage. As more horrors moved into the corridor from another side branch further along, so Ash flew over them and landed in their midst, concentrating his efforts on taking out a gold horror directing them, knowing that its lightning posed the greatest threat to his companions. Ki activates the second daily use of his Shield of Faith brooch, while Jebopdiah next to him neatly sidestepped the lunge of a gold horrors saw. Moving up behind the group, Zamtap cast Prayer to bolster their effectiveness, though it had little effect on the horrors in the corridor, their innate spell resistance rendering the spells negative aspect ineffective. Gylippus stepped back further, moving into the side passage, as Jebodiahs temper burst loose again, the dwarf raging, his anger increased if anything as his first hit clanged off the gold horrors shell, the second hitting but doing very little damage to the creature.

As more and more electrums appeared in the coirridor, the group of them that had been behind the arrow slits now scuttling towards the group, so the ones grouped around Ash faled to hit him, and those in the side passage were also unable to hit Gylippus with their darts. Ash further damages the gold horror he is fighting, and Ki tries twice to stab it but fails both times, the creature then lightning bolting Ki and Zamtap, but neither are hurt by the blast. The other gold horror lightning bolts Ash and Jebodiah hurting the barbarian. Zamtap casts Divine Power on himself and advances into the side passage to place himself between the electrums and Gylippus, shielding the roguish wizard who cast a Magic Missle on an electrum, the magic bolt unable to penetrate the automatons spell resistant carapace. Jebodiah was having more success though, his heightned strength paying divideneds as he smashed aside an electrum and gold horror in quick succession.

As another round of attacks by the various electrum horrors had no effect on the group, they pressed their attack, Ash destroying one electrum and Ki damaging another. Zamtap then charged down the side passage towards the group of four horrors, activating a ceiling pendulum which he dodged and a collapsing ceiling, which he didn't, the priest getting battered by falling stone blocks and debris, but still stumbling through it and smashing into an electrum with his warhammer. With the cleric having cleared a pathway, Gylippus nimbly followed in his steps and attacked another of the electrums, though his rapier point simply scratched the creatures shell. Jebodiah continued to clear a path through the swarm of electrum horrors, destroying one and badly damaging another.

Attacking Ash, Gylippus and Jebodiah in melee, the massed ranks of the electrums managed to wound the barbarian. At that Ash flew up and over the electrums again, to get at the remaining gold horror, but his sword blow failed to hit it. Ki stabbed an already damaged electrum twice, but his dagger and claw bracer did not do much damage to it. The gold horror then blasted Ash, Ki and Jebodiah with lightning, again shocking the dwarf. In the side passage, Zamtap bashed the electrum he had hit before again, further damaging it, while Gylippus stabbed his opponent, discharging the Scorching Ray from his rapier into its innards, but the fire was absorbed by the creature having no effect on it. Clearly enjoying the fight, Jebodiah continued to wreak havoc on the massed electrums, Stormcleaver hacking another two apart.

Attacking many of the group in melee, the horrors scored another hit on Jebodiah and wounded Ash also, the dwarf gritting his teeth as only his rage was keeping him standing now. Ash thrust his sword into the gold horror, damaging the creature but failing to drop it, as Ki attacked an electrum and nearly fell over, only his extraordinary agility keeping him on his feet. The gold horror hit and hurt Ash with its saw, as Jebodiah stepped to one side to get out of the fight, pulling a potion from his belt. With his attention elsewhere, an electrum gored him badly with its razor saw, and while the potion helped, the dwarf was still in a very bad way. In the side passage, neither Gylippus nor Zamtap were able to damage the electrums they were busy with.

Seeing the dwarf stagger, the electrums pressed their attacks, but were only barely able to wound him further and theit attacks did nothing at all to Ash, Ki and Gylippus. The gold horror neatly avoided Ash's clumsy sword thrusts, but its own attack went badly wrong, when Ash caught its razor saw on his shield, the weapon breaking much to the paladins amusement. Seeing Jebodiah in need of healing, Ki tumbled through the battle and tapped him with his healing wand, patching up some of the dwarfs many injuries, the dwarf responding by smashing another electrum aside. In the side corridor, Zamtap smashed one electrum and Gylippus damaged another.

Seeing an opportunity to take down one of the party, the electrums swarmed around Ki and hit him several times, badly wounding the acrobat, though he doesn't let this stop him, easily tumbling out of the mass of horrors to heal Jebodiah again with his wand, Ash joining in by flying over the electrums and handing his friend his last cure moderate wounds potion, which the dwarf duly swigs back.. The gold horror left with no weapon but its lightning, discharges a bolt at Ki which he easily avoids. As another electrum scuttled forwards to engage him in melee, so Zamtap bashed it with his warhammer, having more luck than Gylippus beside him who missed his foe.

The electrums again managed to wound Ash and Jebodiah as they swarmed around the group in the corridor, though they failed to hit Gylippus and Ki with their attacks. Ash then cast Divine Favour on himself, as Ki saw to his own severe wounds with his healing wand, and Jebodiah failed to hit any of the many foes around him. Zamtap's blow smacked harmlessly into the horrors carapace then, while Gylippus's slid neatly into his foes clockwork insides, mangling a couple of cogs.

*DM's Notes:*

And the battle continues, as we reach 46 rounds of consecutive combat now, the sheer attrition of the horrors tactics starting to wear down the party. I know they are now thinking of how to secure themselves a place to rest for a bit, as all the spellcasters are running low on magic and the partys wounds are now starting to accumulate faster than they can heal themselves up, especially given that their cleric is busy in melee some distance from the partys main fighters (which Gareth has admitted was not clever planning on his part). Since killing off the party is really no fun at all, I think I'll be merciful and allow them to do so if they have a good method for how to avoid being found while they rest


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## Fraggleonacid

*Phew!*

3 weeks of continuous melee; no wonder we're looking for places to rest...

I seem to remember the Dwarf in the pit event as being somewhat more heartless:

"Huh, the dwarf's fallen down a pit again. Ok who has the rope?"
"What, you want to haul him up in that state?" <Sounds of raging Dwarf drift up from 80' below>
"Hmm, see what you mean. So do we just leave him down there?"
"Well, he can't go anywhere and he isn't hurting anyone else..."
"Ok, so we drop the rope down when it all goes quiet?"
"Sounds good to me"
...

(Character names withheld to protect the guilty   )


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## Brakkart

Fraggleonacid said:
			
		

> 3 weeks of continuous melee; no wonder we're looking for places to rest...
> 
> I seem to remember the Dwarf in the pit event as being somewhat more heartless:
> 
> "Huh, the dwarf's fallen down a pit again. Ok who has the rope?"
> "What, you want to haul him up in that state?" <Sounds of raging Dwarf drift up from 80' below>
> "Hmm, see what you mean. So do we just leave him down there?"
> "Well, he can't go anywhere and he isn't hurting anyone else..."
> "Ok, so we drop the rope down when it all goes quiet?"
> "Sounds good to me"
> ...
> 
> (Character names withheld to protect the guilty   )




Heh heh, well summarised! And yes things did go a bit more like that, but I left that out of my log mainly cos I wasn't keeping that great a track of who said what, and also cos I had a LOT of other stuff to type up. These logs keep getting longer I swear, I'm gonna develop Carpal Tunnel at this rate!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Two*

As the battle continued to rage, so the electrum horrors engaged in melee with Jebodiah and Ki did well, hurting both of their foes, while the one fighting Zamtap some distance away still couldn't get past the clerics considerable armour. In the thick of the fighting, Ash destroyed one elctrum and badly damaged another, his sword wreaking havoc on the gears and cogs inside the creatures. Ki tapped Jeb with his wand, but again it failed to have much effect, the monk muttering about having bought a defective one. Scuttling to one side, the damaged gold horror further up the corridor blasted lightning into the trio of Ash, Ki and Jeb, succeeding only in wounding the dwarf though. elsewhere Zamtap and Gylippus were not having much luck in their battle, with only the cleric able to hit thier foes and then only barely denting its carapace. With the last of his enraged strength, Jebodiah swung his axe but missed twice, as his body began to really feel the aftereffects of his battle rage. Further back in the corridor, Aeron moved up to where he could view the battle, and seeing the parties main fighters beginning to grow weary, he cast haste on the three of them, to speed the fight up.

With the parties main combatants sped up from the haste spell, they laid into the horrors, though it took Jebodiah a while to get back into the swing of things, as he struggled with exhaustion, his own body defying his attempts to inflict further damage on the clockwork collectives soldiers. Still he had more effect than Zamtap and Gylippus, as they began to move back towards the rest of the group, pursued in ernest by the remaining electrum horrors in their passageway. To try and speed things up further, seeing how weak some of the party looked, Aeron cast another Defenestrating Sphere into the mix, it sending any horror it came into contact with bashing off the ceiling and walls, shrapnel scattered across the corridor floor.

As the group finished off the horrors they had been fighting, so Ash spotted more and flew down another corridor to do battle with them, wishing to clear every one of the creatures from this part of the complex, as the group needed to rest and didn't want any of the clockwork creatures in the vicinity while they did just that. Joining Ash in his one man crusade, Ki ran down to aid him, fighting alongside the paladin as the battle turned ugly, one of the electrum horrors sacrificing itself by triggering a ceiling block collapse trap onto the pair, with the acrobatic monk easily avoiding it, and the walking tank paladin getting struck badly by falling masonry. While they did battle, so Zamtap saw to the grevious wounds of Jebodiah, the dwarf slumping against a wall, happy to sit a fight out for once, knowing that he'd fought as hard and as well as he could this day. Gylippus stood and watched, enjoying the spectacle, whilst Aeron used more spells to renew the haste on the two fighting, and damage a gold horror with magic missiles.

It did not take long though for the group to emerge triumphant and they gathered together to catch a breath, with Zamtap casting a Lesser Vigor on several of the group to allow their wounds to heal up slowly. Gylippus and Ash searched a side passage, and located numerous small rooms, disarming a few traps along the way, and then finding a larger dwarven home of several rooms with two entrances. Zamtap sealed one shut using a domain spell to shape the stone and turn the doorway into wall, while the group piled inside the chambers and barricaded the other door shut behind them.

No sooner had they each selected a room or corner of one for their own, than the sound of snoring could be heard from where Jebodiah had simply slumped, axe in hand, exhuastion finally claiming him. Leaving him to his well earned sleep, the rest decided on watch rota and settled down for a rest also.

*DM's Notes:*

Well at 59 consecutive rounds of combat, that is by far and away the longest fight I have ever run. I decided to write it up a bit differently this time, as I was getting a bit bored of the "round by round" style narrative. Let me know what you prefer reading though, cos if people prefer the other style then I'll go back to it. The group finally got to rest (and got XP too, cos I never award it in the middle of a fight, no matter how long the fight is!).


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## Fraggleonacid

Brakkart said:
			
		

> elsewhere Zamtap and Gylippus were not having much luck in their battle, with only the cleric able to hit thier foes and then only barely denting its carapace.




Yeah, I expect the clockwork horror scribe might say the same thing for the Electrums success in that fight    It was like the death of a thousand cuts, just without the cuts.  Can Clockwork Horrors die of exhaustion?



			
				Brakkart said:
			
		

> pursued in ernest by the remaining electrum horrors




Whoah! Where did Ernest come from?



			
				Brakkart said:
			
		

> Gylippus stood and watched, enjoying the spectacle,




A trap detector/disabler is SO redundant in this party, just send in the Dwarf/Paladin/Monk and watch the fireworks.



			
				Brakkart said:
			
		

> I decided to write it up a bit differently this time, as I was getting a bit bored of the "round by round" style narrative.




Do it the way that seems best/interesting to you, just keep the updates coming. I await them earnestly...


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Three*

After resting for a few hours, the group decided to remain camped out in their hideout for a full day, as even using all their spells, Zamtap and Ash between them could not restore the party to full health, and no-one wanted to battle the horrors again while still injured from the previous fight. After using what spells he had to tend to the groups wounds, Zamtap retired into one of the rooms of the home and continued to work on his Gondsman construct, the creation beginning to really take shape now, he having salvaged various bits and pieces from the wrecked Clockwork Horrors to incorporate into the mechanisms of his mechanical cohort. While he occupied himself with this work, Aeron cast an Identify spell on a small pile of equipment the group had been carrying for several days since fighting the kobolds. After having figured out what everything did, he explained the items to the group and Gylippus produced dice, everyone rolling and then each picking an item with the highest roller taking from the pile first.

That place went to Aeron, who grabbed the Ring of Wizardry from the pile so fast if the others had blinked they would have missed it, a look of triumph on his face as he slipped it onto a finger, and then promptly found a quiet corner and opened his spellbook, his minds potential considerably expanded. Jebodiah was next, and the burly dwarf didn't hesitate to grab the Belt of Giant Strength, prompting a groan from Ash and Ki who had both had eyes on it. As it was, the paladin came third, he taking the kobold kings extra sharp shortsword, while Ki looked over what was left and decided on the spellstoring ring, (Aeron having explained that it was charged with Magic Missile and two castings of True Strike). Smiling, Gylippus picked up the better of the two pairs of protective bracers, slipping them onto his forearms and thinking them to be "Marvellous". Which left only Zamtap, the cleric having not even bothered to roll dice, too absorbed in his tinkering, so he got the lesser pair of bracers. A few potions were divided up amongst the group also.

So it was that the group rested for another night, emerging from their hideout on Nightal 10th, after several of the group had girded themselves in various protective magics. The only one missing was Zamtap, who overslept and insisted he'd catch up to the others, just as soon as he got all the bits and pieces of his Gondsman back into the bag of holding he was carrying them in. Leaving him to follow them, the party advanced through corridors, led by Ash and Gylippus, the paladin acting as a shield, while the crafty wizard checked for traps and locks. After a few minutes of this cautious travel, the group came upon a vast circular auditorium, permanently lit by magical crystals in the roof. Jebodiah recognised the chambers purpose as a clan meeting hall as Citadel Adbar where he hailed from had several chambers just like it. What caught the groups attention though, were the pair of electrum horrors guarding the only other visible exit.

Seeing the horrors, Gylippus was first into the large chamber, heading around the southern curved wall towards them, and hurling a Magic Missile spell at one, but it having no effect. Aeron swiftly cast a spell of Jebodiah to allow the dwarf to resist electricity, the barbarian then marching down into the centre of the vast hall and getting charged by the two electrums, neither of them able to hit him though. As Ash and Ki headed into the auditorium also, moving along the norther and southern walls respectively, four more electrum horrors scuttled in to join in the fight.

As he continued on his way towards the guarded exit, Gyulippus saw to preserving his own skin (always a high priority for him) and conjured a magical Shield to help defend him. It was as he finished casting, that six more horrors swarmed in, their carapace armour glinting of gold, and Aerons eyes went wide, he protecting himself with another spell of electricity resistance. Heading straight for the group of foes, Ash cast a Protection from Evil on himself, while Ki activated his Shield of Faith brooch as two electrum horrors attack him, their blows missing though. Jebodiah was not so lucky however, as the pair of electrums on him, easily flanked and injured him, though he did put a serious dent in one of them.

Seeing the horrors nicely grouped together in the exit, Gylippus drew a wand and blasted a Fireball into them, the flames engulfing all of them, but only maaging to lightly singe two of the gold horrors, as yet another foe arrived... a platinum horror. This new enemy blasted Jebodiah with its lightning bolt, though thanks to the dwarfs reflexes and Aerons magic it barely hurt him. Taking the platinum's blast as their cue, the gold horrors unleashed lightning bolts at Ki, Ash, Gylippus and Jebodiah, but manage only to hurt Ash, the paladin unprotected by an energy resisting spell. Seeing the need to get this fight over with quickly, Aeron cast a Haste spell to affect Gylippus, Ki and Jebodiah. Identifying him as the primary wizard, two of the elctrum horrors scuttled across the chamber towards the air genasi, whilst another pair succeed in flanking Ki and cutting him. A roar of pain in the centre of the room, was echoed by the auditoriums design, as Jebodiah's wounds caused the dwarf to lose his temper, his berserker frenzy engulfing him as never before, he inciting himself to rage also, and his axe tore apart two electrums, he then casting furious bloodshot eyes around, looking for his next victim!

Another fireball arched across the chamber, roasting the platinum horror and the golds around it, damaging three of the golds, but not the main target. Responding to his attacker, the platinum crossed the chamber and launched into melee with Gylippus who had sent the blast, the constructs razor saw proving superior to the rogues defences, easily wounding him. Jebodiah did not have to wait long for foes, as a pair of gold horrors charged him, both scoring wounds on the maddened dwarf, he caring nothing for parrying their blows, intent only on their destruction, his axe annihilating one of them, and damaging the other. Against the southern wall, Ki was trapped in place between two golds in a stalemate, they hurting him, he hurting them in return, neither side able to deal a decisive blow to the other. As the electrum horrors close in on Aeron, he tried to cast a Fly spell, but lost his concentration and was cut badly by one of them, he then fleeing . Seeing their wizard in peril, Ash ran towards him to help him out.

Stepping back from the onslaught of the platinum horror, Gylippus blasted a fireball again, it engulfing the platinum, two golds, two electrums and Ki in roasting flames, which resulted in damaging both electrums and destroying one of the golds. The platinum responding by closing the gap with the rogue, and again slicing into him. The chamber was briefly, but spectacularly lit up then as four gold horrors all blasted Jebodiah with lightning at the same time, the dwarf surviving the barrage unscathed. As Ash smote one of the electrums harrassing Aeron and destroyed it, so the genasi wizard conjured a Defenestrating Sphere into existence and smashed the other one to shrapnel with it. In the center, Jebodiah destroyed another gold horror, and damaged yet another of them that had joined the melee.

Another fireball exploded against the south wall, once more engulfing Ki in flames and the horrors around him, though it had no effect this time, Gylippus muttering about a "rotten charge". The platinum diverted its attention from the rogue however, blasting another lightning bolt into Jebodiah, barely wounding him. It must have distracted him though, for the gold horrors around him were able to hit and badly wound him with their saws. Drawing his crossbow, Aeron directed his Sphere across the chamber towards the platinum horror, though it didn't reach the enemy before Ash did, the paladin engaging the most dangerous construct in melee. Though he managed to score a couple hits on a gold horror, Ki was as dangerous to himself as to his opponents, badly injuring himself with a misplaced stab. Jebodiah maintained his routine, destroying the previously damaged gold horror, and cleaving into a fresh one.

Choosing to switch which magic he was using, Gylippus cast Magic Missile, sending the enchanted projectiles into an electrum horror and danaging it, he then drawing his rapier, as the platinum returned its attentuions to him, parrying the constucts jabbing saw in the nick of time. A pair of gold horrors took advantage of the paladins lack of energy resistance, lightning bolting him, anbd while one missed entirely due to being fired from too far away, the other lightly wounded him. From across the chamber, Aeron continued to direct the Sphere towards the platinum horror, whilst casting True Strike on himself. Ash slammed his sword into the platinum then, damaging it, while ki stabbed and stabbed, but just couldn't seem to hit a vital spot on the electrum he was doing battle with. It and the other electrum flanking him though had no such trouble, the pair of them cutting him up severely. Jebodiah's axe found its mark again, another gold horror torn apart from his powerful blows.

As Gylippus and the platinum horror, traded blows, both striking and wounding the other, so a gold horror scuttled up behind Ash to flank him, but was unable to score a telling blow, its saw skittering off the paladins armour. Aeron's sphere sent the platinum flying across the chamber then, badly damaging it, and he grinned as he conjured another such sphere into existence, sending that towards the gold behind Ash. Try as they might though, none of the others could hit their foes, and the electrum horrors menacing Ki proved equally inept. In the centre of the chamber, surrounded by smashed and rent apart metal, Jebodiah grinned maniacally and advanced towards where the platinum had landed.

*DM's Notes:*

Well the party finally ID'ed the stuff they took from the kobolds and divided it up, and then back into battle with the horrors as they push further south, battling every step of the way through their "shortcut" to the Yuan-ti city that is their goal. As you probably can tell, Gareth was not at this session, and thus didn't get to roll for a better magic item, simply getting the +2 Bracers, whilst Alastair grabbed the +3 pair. I think everyone was pretty happy with what item they ended up with though. I was surprised at Tony's choice, didn't figure he'd go for the Ring of Spellstoring, though I can see how it will prove useful for him.

The party are nearing the end of Dowinn's Lode now, and their quest will soon take them into the steaming Black Jungles and the heart of the Yuan-ti's power.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Four*

Huffing and puffing, Zamtap finally caught up to the group and muttered an apologetic "Sorry, got lost", before his eyes went wide seeing the ongoing battle in the large room. Seeing that Ki wasn't faring too well, Gylippus stabbed his rapier deep into the mechanical innards of one of the electrum horrors threatning him, and destroyed it. As a gold horror scuttled towards Ki, Ash sliced open part of its carapce as it went past him, it then missing the acrobatic monk. Aeron frowned, as neither of his spheres had any effect on the horrors he targeted them at, while Ash followed the gold that he had already hit, damaging it further. Ki used the reprieve, to concentrate his attacks on one of his tormentors, destroying an electrum horror with his dagger and claw bracer. Seeing the platinum horror flee from the audotorium, Jebodiah gave pursuit, charging after it down the side tunnel that lead further south and catching the damaged construct, his axe rending it apart. It was only then that he looked around and saw nearly dozen more horrors surrounding him, a couple electrums, eight golds, and another two platinum horrors...

Running into the chamber, Zamtap caught up to Ash and laid an enchantment on him to resist the horrors lightning attacks, as Jebodiahs similar enchantment came in useful when both platinum horrors blasted him with lightning, he suffering only very minor shocks, but then getting swarmed by the gold horrors, several surrounding him while others moved to block any of the rest of the party from getting to the dwarf. Hopelessly outnumbered, the gold horrors began to cut the barbarian in their midst to pieces, as he roared battle cries born of anger and pain, axe swinging around him, tearing gashes in his foes, a gold horror ripped apart by the blows and another damaged. Hearing the bellows of his enraged companion from the corridor, Aeron sent both his spheres towards the golds blocking the passageway, aiming to smash open a route for the dwarf to escape back to the others by. Ash too saw the danger, and finished off the gold horror he was fighting, striding towards the mouth of the corridor where the fresh gold horrors were waiting. Freed of targets for the first time in a while, Ki took the opportunity to try and heal himself with his wand, it doing little to close his considerable wounds though, and he then headed towards Zamtap.

Ignoring Ki's wounds, Zamtap used his magic to first patch up Gylippus, who was also in quite a bad way after battling the platinum horror for a while. with his wounds (mostly) seen too, Gylippus headed after the rest of the party as they closed on the corridor entrance, now able to see the fresh swarm of horrors in the entrance and beyond, Jebodiahs battle cries heard from somewhere in the darkness further back. In closing in on the entrance though, he put himself within reach of the platinum horrors lurking behind the front row of golds, they scuttling over their lesser minions and engaging him in melee, badly wounding him between them, a gold horror also scoring a telling blow on Jebodiah, before being smashed to scrap by the berserkers axe, Stormcleaver cutting it apart and tearing into another horror, the dwarf fighting tirelessly to cut himself out of his predicament. One of Aeron's spheres slammed into a platinum then, tossing it away from Gylippus and smacking it into a wall, though it quickly righted itself, the other platinum unaffected by the sphere that assailed it. forced to divert his attention from reaching Jeb, by the platinums threatening Gylippus, Ash tried to aid the wizard, but his sword just couldn't seem to find an opening. Ki tried again to heal himself, his wand proving just as feeble as before. Darting in under the dwarfs swining axe,. an electrum horror sliced into one of Jebodiahs legs with its razor saw.

Casting Resist Energy on himself to ward off lightning, Zamtap then headed towards the battle at the tunnel exit from the auditorium. Stepping back from the platinum horror attacking him, Gylippus angrily blasted a fireball into the corridor, but was dismayed to see it have no effect on the platinum and four gold horrors that its fire had enveloped. Ignoring the wizard, both platinum horrors flanked Ash and cut into him, their razor saws finding gaps in his considerable armour plating, and as the paladin staggered, so the dwarf fell, a gold horror cutting down Jebodiah, the raging strength leaving his body, as his life again fled his mortal form, a much bloodied body dropping to the cold stone floor of the passageway, Stormcleaver still held in its deathgrip.Hearing his friends battlesong sudeenly stilled, caused Ash to falter and trip, he grtting his teeth and hauling himself back to his feet then, the Sunite's handsome face drawn into a resolute grimace. Aeron had more luck, his spehrres damaging one of the platinum horrors and smashing a gold to shards, battering it off the walls and ceiling of the passageway, that sphere then vanishing.

With their numbers now reduced, Zamtap saw fit to bolster the remaining party members, casting a Prayer to effect Gylippus, Ki, Ash and himself. Gylippus for his part, gestured, and sent a Scorching Ray at a gold horror, the flames though licking harmlessly off its carapace shell. Keeping Ash between them, the platinum horrors continued to cut at him, though both scored only light wounds. Ash and Gyllipus found themselves blasted twice each by lightning bolts, the paladin's enchantment simply absrobing them, while the rogue nimbly avoided the bolts entirely, but in doing so, he stepped squarely into the path of a third bolt, the electricity depleting his own warding against such energy. Seeing that if this battle continued for too long, more horrors would inevitably arrive, Aeron cast a Haste on the rest of the party, and directed his remaining sphere into a platinum, annihilating it. Try as he might though, Ash just couldn't seem to penetrate the remaining platinum horrors carapace, his sword sparking as it struck the automatons metal shell again and again. Ki had better luck though, his claw bracer cutting deep into a gold horror.

Drawing his warhammer, Zamtap waded into melee then, lending his strength to Ki, and damaging the already battered gold horror that the monk was fighting still further. another fireball roared from Gylippus's wand, the inferno roasting four gold horrors and succeeding in damaging half of them.. After trading blows ineffectually with the paladin, the last platinum horror fled from the auditorium, heading down the corridor past the gold horrors, whioch swarmed out to surround Ki, badly wounding him. "You're not getting away that easily", Aeron growled, as he sent his sphere after the platinum, the ball of ripping winds damaging the construct, but not destroying it, as the spell expired and it too vanished. With the platinum out of his sight, the genasi sent Magic Missiles at a gold horror, they punching past its magic resistant carapace to damage its innards. Charging into the mouth of the tunnel, Ash engaged a pair of gold horrors in combat, managing to damage one of them, while Ki struck a gold that was threatening him and then fled from it, covered in his blood from many cuts.

Smashing a gold to scrap, Zamtap cautoiusly took a step backwards, from another pair of them, Gyllipus then roating them with a fireball, destroying one of them. From further down the corrirdor, the paltinum fired its lightning through the ranks of lesser horrors at Ash, but now warded against electricity, it washed harmlessly over the paladin as he smashed aside another gold, cutting his way towards the retreating leader of the horrors. Sensing the danger to itself, the platinum clicked out a series of commands, a quartet of gold horrors moving in to attack Ash, though none of them could find a gap in his armour to exploit, his tower shield keeping them at bay. Seeking to help Ash batter a way through, Aeron sent more magical missiles into a gold horror, doing some damage to it. Now safely away from the cut and thrust of melee, Ki growled angrily as his wand contunued to prove almost useless in healing his many injuries.

Calling out an oath to Gond to guide his hammer, Zamtap charged into the gold horrors, but his swipe at them missed. They did not though, several swarming around him and cutting him twice with theit jabbing saws, while Gyllipus's couldn't seem to find an opening with his rapier either, the tip glancing off a gold horrors shell. As he walked closer to the battle in the tunnel mouth, so Aeron saw fit to conjure a magical Shield into existence to better defend himself. Shaking his wand to try and get it to work, ki then tapped himself with it and grinned as several of the smaller cuts closed up, its magic finally providing a decent dose of healing power.Ash continued his pursuit of the platinum, damaging a gold horror that was in the way.

While Gylippus stepped around and drove his rapier deep into a gold horror, Zamtap swung and missed again, his opponent scuttling out of the way of the priests warhammer. Aeron sent another burst of magic missiles into a gold horror, punching them past its resistance to damage the construct. His sword cutting another gold horror out of his way, Ash ran down the corridor after the platinum horror, which had by now retreated beyond the electrum horrors. As he ran headlong towards them, he passed the body of Jebodiah, lying slumped against the passage wall in a pool of his blood. Hanging back from melee, Ki took aim with his ring and unleashed the magic missile spell stored inside it, but it has no effect on the gold horror he targets with it. As Ash ran towards them, so the electrum horrors opened fire at him with their dart launchers, though the projectiles bounced harmlessly off his shield.

Snarling in annoyance, Zamtap swung again, and missed again, the gold horror fighting him, continuing to avoid his blows, while nearby Gylippus and the gold horror fighting him traded blows, each wounding the other. Easily destroying one of the electrum horrors, Ash turned to deal with the second which missed in its attack on him, as Ki tapped himself again with his wand, muttering abiout having bought a defective one as it did little good. Aeron blasted another gold with magic missiles, they failing to penetrate its resistant armour cladding though.

Calling out loudly "Gond guide my hand!", Zamtap grinned in delight as his hammer smashed down twice in quick succession into his foe, heavily damaging it, but not quite disabling the golden horror. Tripping over a leg from a destroyed horror, Gylippus went sprawling, his rapier dropped also, and as he pulled himself back to his feet, so the gold horror he had been fighting took advantage and cut him down with its saw, the sneaky rogue falling back amidst the wreckage of past foes on the auditorium steps, and not moving. More magic missles streamed from Aerons outstretched hands, targeted at two gold horrors, but damaging only one of them. Away down the corridor, Ash destroyed the remaining electrum horror and peeked into a large lit room, clearly a temple to the dwarven gods, looking for where the platinum had fled too, but not spotting it. Seeing Gyllipus down, Ki leapt into combat, standing over his downed comrade and stabbing at the gold horror. While he missed it again and again, he nevertheless kept the construct from finishing off his friend.

Changing opponent, Zamtap brought his hammer down on the back of the horror trying to battle past Ki, smashing it apart. Muttering a curse under his breath, Aeron saw his Horizikaul's Boom spell do nothing to the last gold horror. Seeing an open double door in the temple, Ash guessed that the platinum horror had gone that way, and laid a hand on himself to close some his his wounds before giving chase once more, seeing the platinum across a large room, and a triangular portal beyond, a monstrous black plated horror visible through the shimmering window within the mechanical frame, the portal itself a type of clockwork horror too.

As Ki kept the last gold horror at bay, so Zamtap crouched down and saw to healing Gyllipus, the roggue snatching up his rapier and getting back up onto his feet. Seeing Ash in the doorway to the portal chamber, the platinum horror again blasted him with lightning, the paladin not quite quick enough to dodge tis time, and taking the full force of the blast in the chest. While his energy resistant warding spell depleted much of the bolts strength, Ash was still badly hurt by the lightning. not that that stopped him though, he griotting his teeth against the pain and casting Divine Favour on himself, striding into the chamber after the platinum horror, and triggering a trap, a whirling storm of blades and shrapnel suddenly engulfing him. He dived through it towards the lone horror, getting cut up in the process as the doorway behind him filled with the Blade Barrier. Hearing the paladins cries of pain from a distance, Aeron cast Expeditious Retreat on himself and ran at speed down the corridor after Ash...

*DM's Notes:*

Well it was beginning to end carnage this week, but the party have the last platinum horror cornered now, and have located the gate that allows this hive to remain in contact with the Adamantine Horror, their emperor (the black plated monster horror visible through the portal). The group will be done with the Clockwork Horror hive early in the next session. It was kind of inevitable that Jebodiah would charge after the platinum and equally so that he would get swarmed and killed (again). Still Matt does love playing that crazy dwarf, so I have little doubt that he'll be back from the dead soon enough (I know this as I know what is in the Horrors treasure pile). I feel the session ended on a nice cliffhanger, and everyone acquitted themselves well in the battle.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Five*

Keeping the last gold horror between them, Zamtap and Gyllipus rained blows down upon it, even as it continued its attacks on Ki, failing to strike him. Striding into close combat with the platinum horror, Ash heavily damaged it with two slices of his sword, its razor saw failing to jab past his shield, and it suffered further as Aeron moved to where he could see it through the whirling blades in the doorway, blasting it with more magic missiles. Back in the auditorium, Ki stabbed his dagger into the gold horror twice, but accidentally raked himself with the claw bracer on his other hand, opening fresh cuts to add to the many he already bore.

Realizing the danger of the priest and wizard arund it, the gold horror scuttled about more, thwarting both Zamtap and Gyllipus's attempts to finish it off, and it succeeded in getting in past the clerics defense, cutting him. Elsewhere, the platinum came close to dropping Ash, its saw punching into the paladin, but failing to put him down, the Sunite's returned blows shattering the platinums carapace and then ripping the construct apart as outside the portal room Aeron drew a wand and began summoning a creature to aid, he ceasing his casting though on seeing that help was not needed after all, hearing also a victory cry from the auditorium as Ki's dagger finished off the last gold horror.

Striding towards the portal, Ash tore into the stationary clockwork construction, and then in a final act of defiance to the watching Adamantine Horror, he gathered his remaining strength and hurled the head of the defeated platinum horror through the closing gateway. With the portal shut and the connection to their emperor and hivemind severed, the remaining horrors which had just come into view at the far end of the temple to where Aeron was stood abruptly ceased all functions. Taking no chances, the party patched up the worst of their wounds and then swept through the level of Dowinn's Lode, smashing every inert horror they encountered until they were certain that the layer was secure.

In the process of sweeping the level, they found the vast smithy where dwarves had once smelted ore from the mines below, and where they found many more horrors under construction, dismantling them also. Here too they found treasure, piles of silver, gold and platinum coins as well as gemstones and other items. Taken from dwarven vaults that the horrors had smashed open, and intended to be used in the construction of more of the vile automatons.

Amongst the loot was a pile of items that all identified as magical, including scrolls, potions, armour, weapons and a bag. Reading the scrolls, Aeron and Zamtap found a rare and needed prize, a scroll bearing four castings of the spell Raise Dead, the cleric immediately setting about bringing Jebodiah back to life... or trying to at any rate, the casting taking half a day in all, and exhausting the priest as he struggled to cast so difficult a spell, it taxing his mind to its limit. But after twelve hours of chanting and gesturing, the Party With No Name, was once again six strong, as their berserker companion returned from the Fugue Plane (where his spirit had been having an interesting conversation  with other deceased dwarves about the tactics of dragon slaying).

With no threat remaining on this level of the old dwarfhold, the party decided to rest for a couple days before proceeding onwards, Aeron citing that they had much to identify and wishing to study (and thoroughly dismantle) the clockwork portal also, while Zamtap wanted to spend time with the forges to finish building his Gondsman. Between them, Gyllipus and Aeron identified the various magical items, and again the group rolled dice to determine who got what from the pile.

Getting to pick first this time, Zamtap grabbed the Dragonbane Warhammer for himself, citing that it was his gods symbol to defend his choice, even though no-one else had really been all that interested in taking it. Aeron chose a scroll with a couple new spells for his book, it containing both Weapon of Impact and Aganazzar's Scorcher on the parchment. Jebodiah took up both potions of Cure Moderate Wounds, everyone in the party agreeing that he was the most likely to need them, and snagging the Cat's Grace potion also, the three vials going someway to replenishing his empty potion belt.

Ash picked next, taking the suit of elven chainmail and then after explaining to a disbelieving Jebodiah how it was superior to what the dwarf was wearing, he sold it for three thousand gold pieces to his barbarian comrade. Picking over what was left, Ki took the Bag of Holding, while Gyllipus selected the Heavy Crossbow. It was agreed by everyone that the Raise Dead scroll would count as being owned by the party, and would be held by Zamtap to be used if neccessary, everyone glancing briefly at Jebodiah that that point, he grinning meekly back at them.

With the loot divided up, everyone rested or wnet back to their projects for the next day. Zamtap finished assembling the various component parts of his Gondsman, incorporating an electrum horrors pressurised dart launcher into the construct which was named Tik-Tok on activation. He had also incorporated a suit of magical breastplate into its form, and armed it with a magic shortsword he had acquired some time back and been carrying in his own Bag of Holding ever since in readiness.

Arguably the most pious member of the group after the priest and paladin, Jebodiah took time apart from the others to pray before the statue of Clangeddin in the temple, he leaving an offering of 250 gold coins in the bowl at the statues feet. He was then asked to help Aeron in his research, the genasi wizard dismantling every key component from the clockwork portal, and getting the dwarf to pound them into unusable scrap metal, ensuring that no-one could ever again use it to open a conduit to the world where the Horrors hailed from.

On Nightal 12th the group gathered itself together, now seven in number as Zamtap's whirring, clanking cohort joined them and they headed south out of the level, down a long wide tunnel that connected the hive level to the southern gatehouse. After two days of marching onwards, they emerged into a tunnel lit by flickering torches on Nightal 14th, the smoke carrying the pungent smell of jungle hardwoods, and they readied themselves for another onslaught...

*DM's Notes:*

This was a shorter session than usual, we ended an hour earlier than we normally would, owing in part to my lack of prep time the previous week, and so I wasn't nearly ready to run the oncoming battle against the tribe of lizardmen and troglodytes that the party know to lair in the south gatehouse. I added in the Raise Dead scroll as the party are a long way from civilisation at the moment and it would be hard to replace a dead party member, so this way they can keep the group together should any of them fall in battle either here or once they get to the yuan-ti city. The dragonbane warhammer was also placed deliberately in the loot to appeal to Zamtap, and as will be seen, it will prove most useful in the campaign to come, as the party will begin to find out once they leave the Lode *grins evilly*

As for letting Gareth build a dart launcher from the horrors into his construct, I felt that was a fair trade as he didn't get to name it. Several of my group (myself included) had decided that it would be known as Tik-Tok almost from the beginning of the campaign when we knew what prestige class he was aiming for. It also isn't a very powerful device (it can fire once a round only), is a pain to reload, and has a 40 shot ammunition drum which takes Zamtap well over an hour to replace, as he has to practically detach Tik-Tok's arm to take it out and bolt another in its place (which he has several of, having looted them from the inert horrors, keeping the spares in his now mostly empty Bag of Holding).


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## Brakkart

*The Party With No Name (as at the end of Session 35)*

With all the party having gained a level in the past couple sessions (even Jebodiah, though he then lost it again through dying), I think an update of how the party looks now is warranted. Henceforth, this is the current status of The Party With No Name:

*Alastair* - Gylippus CN Human Rogue3/Wizard5
*Dan* - Edward "Ash" Hamilton LG Human Paladin8 (Sune)
*Phillip* - Aeron Greycastle NG Air Genasi Wizard6/Air Elemental Savant2
*Tony* - Ki Tendragion LN Human Rogue3/Monk2/Ranger1/Thief Acrobat2
*Matt* - Jebodiah Bugman CG Dwarf Barbarian3/Fighter3/Frenzied Berserker1
*Gareth* - Zamtap N Human Cleric7/Techsmith1 (Gond)
*NPC* - Tik-Tok N Unique Construct

Alastair plans to take another level of Wizard and then advance into the Arcane Trickster prestige class. Phillip plans on advancing through Elemental Savant and plans to multiclass further into the Geometer class at some point (to save him money on scribing spells primarily). He has said he has Aeron's advances plotted out up to something like 24th level! Tony plans to add levels in Shadowdancer to his list of classes at some point. Matt seems content to advance in Fighter, Barbarian and Berserker levels from now on, while Dan seems equally happy to continue to advance as a singleclass paladin. As for Gareth, I imagine he'll take Techsmith levels for as long as he can and then go back to Cleric levels


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## Spider_Jerusalem

Hey Brakkart, just letting you know you've got another reader here. I'm working my way through the posts at the moment (always eager to read other Forgotten Realms SH), and I'm enjoying it.

I've got to admit that I found your writing a little too description heavy for me, but I soon settled into the swing of things. Well, back to reading and I'll post again once i'm caught up.

Spider J


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## Brakkart

Cool, welcome to the story hour Spider. I always enjoy reading comments from my small pool of readers. Hope you enjoy the groups exploits.


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## Brakkart

I'd like to apologise to my readers for the lack of updates recently. I have 3 sessions worth of notes that I need to get typed up, just been really lazy of late and not yet gotten around to it. Still I've never been more than 3 sessions behind, so I plan on getting all of them done up and posted Tuesday-Wednesday next week (cos I have those days off work).

The party are now out in the jungles and heading towards Ss'inthee'ssaree... but they've come across another problem entirely in their travels!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Six*

At around noon on Nightal 14th the party arrived at the south gatehouse of Dowinn's Lode,  and several of the group immediately cast spells to ward themselves for the inevitable battle they were about to walk into. Aeron wrapped himself in spells to protect him from arrows, the elements and also to gird himself in magical armour, whilst Gylippus cast Endure Elements also, and Zamtap made do with a Magic Vestment which he placed on his shield.

Settling back into a familiar routine, the party advanced with Ash and Gylippus in the lead, they checking out a small room and finding it empty apart from a couple of large winches. Opening the next room along the corridor though brought the group face to face with 3 burly lizardlike humanoids (Trens), they snatching up greatswords and charging the doorway, attacking Gylippus and Ash. While they easily cut into the rogue, the paladins armour deflected the sword aimed at him, even as Zamtap stepped up behind Ash and boosted him with a casting of Bull's Strength. the groups counter attack didn't really happen, Ash tripping and missing his blow, but managing to stay on his feet, and Gylipus concentrated and put a Shield spell on himself.

Moving up towards the fight, Ki activated his Shield of Faith brooch, as the Trens failed to hit Ash and Gyllipus. While Aeron drew his wand of monster summoning and began weaving it through the passes needed to activate the device, Gyllipus was struck as he tried to get out of melee, his Scorching Ray spell missing his target as a result. Smiting the Tren who hit the rogue, Ash cut him twice but was surprised not to drop his foe. And at the back of the group, Jebodiah advanced to a corner and peeked around it, his dwarven eyes seeing far up the connecting corridor and spotting a giant of a lizardman, nine feet tall with black scales and a skull-like face, as well as a pair of Troglodytes.

Moving up beside Ash, Ki struck twice at the injured Tren but failed to hit him. While the Tren at the back of the trio swigged back a potion of Bear's Endurance, the other two hit Ki and missed Ash. Behind the frontline of the fight, Zamtap saw to Gylippus's wounds. Unfortunately, the sound of the fighting had drifted up the corridor, and hearing it the giant black scaled lizardfolk strode down to investigate, running straight into Jebodiah, the dwarf trading blows with his large foe and swiftly slaying it, advancing over its body into view of the Troglodytes as he slipped into the primal frenzy of his battle rage, bellowing a challenge at them, no longer caring about any pretense of stealth. Both of the smelly creatures charged him then, one spearing him. giving up on summoning a creature, Aeron simply dropped a Gedlee's Electric Loop on the three hapless Trens, hurting all of them and stunning two. Moving back into the room with the winches, Gyllipus turned one, and dropped a portcullis from the ceiling in the corridor outside, seperating Jebodiah and the Trogs from the rest of the party. As Ash slew the lead Tren, so Tik Tok missed the one it had moved up to fight.

Ki rolled and ducked into the room then, getting around behind a Tren to flank it, and missing, the monk finding out again that while he can get anywhere and dodge anything, he can't hit for toffee.On the other side of the portcullis Jebodiah was doing well, slaughtering one Trog and injuring the other as a below further up the corridor announced the arrival of another of the huge lizardmen, he giving warning to the tribe of the intruders. As the wounded Trog stabbed the dwarf with his spear, so more of them and Trens too started appearing from chambers further down the corridor, moving with purpose towards the blood drenched dwarf. moving into the winch room as Gyllipus left it, Aeron turned the other winch, and succeeded only in sealing off the corridor that they had arrived by. Gyllipus blasted a volley of Magic Missiles into a Tren, wounding one enough that Ash could quickly cut it down and the one beside it.

Moving up to behind the portcullis, Ki reached through it with his wand and tapped Jebodiah, healing the dwarf of a few of his smaller wounds. The black scaled lizardman then charged down the corridor, raging as it ran and badly bludgeoned Jebodiah with its greatclub made from jungle hardwood. Reaching an arm through the portcullis also, Zamtap saw to healing the dwarf, who then massacred the lizardman and greviously wounded the nearby Troglodyte, which retaliated by spearing and biting him, two more of the stinky creatures running into the fray, one of them spearing the berserker too. Aeron turned the crank and hauled the portcullis back up, freeing the rest of the party to come to Jebodiah's aid as more and more scaled humanoids headed towards the ongoing battle. Attempting to lend a hand, Gyllipus got distracted as he tried tumbling past a Troglodyte, the creatures tail tripping him a little and he got a spear shoved in his side, the pain causing him to miss his stab. Casting Divine Favour on himself, Ash headed towards the fight.

Stepping into the melee beside Jebodiah, Ki ran the injured Trog through with his dagger, as Zamtap again saw to keeping the barbarian on his feet, pouring more healing energy into him, as the dwarf's axe claimed another Trog, he moving forwards to get at the next, which speared and bit him. Seeking to aid Ki in the fight, Aeron boosted him with a Bull's Strength, while Gyllipus took the more direct approach and sent a fireball rocketing down the corridor into a group of Trens and Trogs that were closing in, burning all of them but to his susprise, dropping not a single one of them! Moving up to fight beside Jebodiah, Ash's blade cut into a Trog.

Tumbling around and into melee Ki again missed his strike at a Trog, though his nimbleness served him well as he ducked and dodged the greatswords that a pair of Trens swung at him as they closed in around him, as yet another of the huge lizardmen rounded a corner and headed towards the fracas. Sticking with a strategy that was working Zamtap followed behind Jebodiah, concentrating on keeping the dwarf standing, so that dwarf could keep butchering his way up the passage, chanting prayers of healing to close the dwarfs wounds, almost as fast as their scaly foes were causing them, Stormcleaver slicing through another Trog, the dwarfs axe decorating walls and ceiling in reptilian blood as the floor grew increasingly slick with gore and body parts in his wake. Seeing how slow the groups advance was becoming, Aeron grinned and cast a Haste on the party to speed things up a bit, while Gyllipus unleashed another volley of Magic Missiles into one of the Trens threatening Ki. Ash muttered under his breath in his frustration as he just couldn't seem to score a telling blow.

A Tren and Ki exchanged blows, the scaly brute still unable to hit the monk, and he only lightly wounding it, as the other Tren cut into Jebodiah with its greatsword, and the dwarf was hammered and savagely bitten by the club and teeth of the looming black scaled lizardman. Growling "Ohh no you don't!" Zamtap kept at it, pouring spell after spell into Jebodiah, as the dwarf continued to cut a bloody swathe through their foes, hacking apart the pair of Trens and starting on the giant lizardman, as Aeron lent hs aid by sending a burst of Magic missiles into the towering brute. Continuing to attack those that were closing in on the group, Gyllipus sent another fireball from his wand soaring into their midst, injuring a trio of Troglodytes. Focusing himself, Ash drew on the power of his goddess to smite the black scaled lizarman, killing it, as Zamtap directed Tik Tok to open fire on the foes closing on them, the construct firing a dart from its built-in launcher, but missing the Tren it aimed at.

Running up to attack that Tren, Ki stabbed and raked the creature with dagger and claw, it returning the attack and hurting the monk, who was sufficiently staggered from that blow to be unable to avoid the club that another giant lizardman swung at him, the pair of them greviously injuring Ki between them. Healing Jebodiah again, Zamtap remained behind the dwarf until Jebodiah set off up the corridor to kill the wounded Tren, he getting clubbed by the giant lizardman on the way, but succeeding in killing his target. Another Tren charged into the dwarf then, cutting him as the trio of singed Troglodytes advanced towards the party. Seeing the dwarf about to get swarmed, Aeron blasted the Trogs with a Scintillating Sphere and Gyllipus sent a fireball into their midst also, but the pair of blasts only dropped one of them and a Tren too. As the battle raged at the T-junction the group had reached, Ash walked up behind Ki and laid hands on the monk to heal most of the wounds he had suffered.

*DM's Notes:*

As you can probably tell, I love Monster Manual III, and the party have thus far encountered a few creatures from that book (Dracotaurs, Poison Dusk & Black Scale Lizardfolk). This is quite a hard battle for the group, all the Trens, Trogs and Black Scales have character levels. I wanted to end Dowinn's Lode with a good bloodbath and I'm getting just that. Interesting to note how Zamtap who at the start of the campaign was very much a loner really, is working a lot more as a team player these days, not wading into battle himself, but staying behind Jebodiah and keeping the dwarf on his feet, knowing that the dwarf is far more effective in a fight than he is.

I think the only character who doesn't work so well right now is Ki, as due to his class selections he is overly specialised towards evasion and such, and has a quite poor BAB as a result, which means while he can get anywhere to hit something, more often than not he fails to actually hit, even when flanking. He could do with taking a couple more Ranger levels really and when he gets to a town/city, spending a goodly sum on upgrading his weapons.


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## williem-de'bloodie

*cheers*


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Seven*

Ki lashed out with his claw bracer, raking three lines of pain across the black scaly hide of the giant lizardman, and then flipped and rolled backwards, out of the creatures reach to beside where Zamtap was standing. The large lizardmen tried to smash Tik Tok and bite Ash, but neither attempt came close to hitting the mark. It was then that the leader of tribe made its appearance, a Spirit Naga appearing down the far end of the corridor, sending a Fireball blasting into the middle of the group, the sudden unexpected explosion injuring everyone apartt from Ki (who dodged) and Gylippus (who was outside the blast area), but injuring the Black Scaled giant and destroying Tik Tok, little left of the construct but twisted melted metal.

At this new threat, and huirting badly from its opening attack, Zamtap cast a spell on himself to ward him against fire. Jebodiahs axe claimed another life as it tore the guts out of the the Black Scaled Lizardman, though he and Ash then got charged by several Troglodytes, they impaling the barbarian twice on their longspears, and further away another three moved into the corridor between the party and their chieftain. Aeron sent a Phantasmal Killer to eliminate the Naga but it failed to have any effect, and fearing a counter attack, the wizard back around a corner and out of the Naga's line of sight. Gylippus had more luck with his counter attack though, sending a Fireball racing up the corridor to engulf the trio of newly arrived Trogs and the Naga also, injuring all of them. Ash's blade sliced cleanly through a Trog's abdomen, dropping the foul smelling creature.

While Ki saw to his wounds with a tap from his healing wand, so the Naga cast Displacement on itself. another brace of Toglodytes were torn apart by hacking blows from Stormcleaver, as Jebodiah continued to dispatch everything in his path with brutal efficiency, as yet another charged into him and scored a wound, and two more appeared at the far end of a side corridor. Aeron followed Zamtap's lead, in warding himself against Fire magic, while Gyllipus preferred to fight fire with fire, sending another Fireball over the heads of the party, it blasted into a pair of Troglodytes, even as Zamtap finally succumbed to the creatures awful stench, it made worse by the sheer number of torn and burnt bodies in the corridor, his eyes streaming. Seeing the pair of Trogs that just appeared, Ash broke off from the main group and charged down the side corridor into them, nimbly avoiding a pair of ceiling pendulums that he triggered en route.

Jumping back into the fight, Ki stabbed a Trog that was fighting Jebodiah, injuring it, he looking a bit pale then as from down the corridor the sound of another Black Scale Lizardman could be heard, the large brute heading his way. Another fireball erupted amidst the group, sent by the Naga, it injuring Zamtap and Jebodiah as well as a Trog, though Ki dropped low to the ground and avoided the blast. Seeing the dwarfs wounds starting to get the better of him, Zamtap again concentrated his efforts on keeping Jebodiah standing, poured more healing prayers into him to knit his muscled flesh back together. The barbarian then handily dispatched another Trog and stepped sideways, out of the path of two oncoming Trogs who charged into Ki and missed him with their spearpoints. A short distance away a trio of Trogs fell on Ash, biting. clawing and stabbing at him, but the paladins impressive armour kept out all attacks save for one spear that found a gap to exploit. Aeron concentrated his effort son taking out the Spirit Naga, dispelling its Shield of Faith and Displacement spells, and yelling to Gyllipus to "Hit it now!", the rogue duly obliging and blasting the snakelike monster with another Fireball from his wand, he also backing out of sight to avoid a retaliatory strike. Ash was making good progress in his little fight, his sword lopping the head off one Trog, and virtually disembowelling another, though the creature stubbornly remained standing.

"Aiiiii" Ki yelled as he leapt onto a Trog, stabbing the creature again and again, and killing it, he then backflipping away to avoid a greatclub swung at him by the Black Scaled brute that had closed to melee. A trio of Trens arrived then, moving into the corridor between the group and the Spirit Naga, which cast Cure Light Wounds on itself much to the groups astonishment. Zamtap saw to Ki's wounds, while Jebodiah hacked apart another Trog, his battle frenzy serving him well. Ash easily fended off the attacks of a pair of Trogs, killing one and severely wounding the other in retaliation. Trying to aid Ki, Aeron nevertheless faled to affect the giant lizardman with a Hold Person, as Gyllipus exhausted the charges in his wand, sending his last Fireball into the Spirit Naga and the newly arrived Trens, badly injuring a Tren and also a nearby Trog that was unlucky enough to be caught on the fringe of the blast.

Ki and the giant lizardman traded blows, the monk stabbing twice but being clubbed and bitten far worse in return, while the Naga blasted a volley of Magic missiles into Zamtap and slithered around a corner out of sight of the group. Seeing to his own wounds then, Zamtap chanted and imbued himself with Lesser Vigor. He ducked then as a spray of blood splattered the wall behind him, Jebodiah slaughtering his way through a pair of Trens as Stormcleaver thundered through the second, the corridor rocked by the deafening boom, the dwarf by now drenched in blood and gore and clearly relishing a good fight. As Aeron's Haste spell on the group finally wore off, so he unleashed a  Lesser Electric Orb at the Black Scaled lizardman, Gyllipus joining in the attack also and pouring Magic Missiles into the towering brute who stagered but did not fall under the twin attacks. Ash held his ground in the side corridor, preventing the group from getting caught in the flank, his sword claiming another Troglodytes life.

Stepping back out of the giant brutes range, ki tapped himself with his wand but as usual it did little to patch up his considerable wounds, the big lizardman smashing his club down into Jebodiah twice and biting him for good measure too, dropping the dwarf at his feet, while another of the big brutes lumbered into combat with Ash, bashing him hard. The Naga reappeared then and sent a Fireball rocketing down the corridor and into Gyllipus in revenge for the ones the rogue had sent its way. running low on spells by now, Zamtap used what healing he had to help patch up Jebodiah, who got up with grim purpose and viciously cut down the brute who had felled him and a neary Tren for good measure too, while sidestepping a Troglodyte who charged into him, avoiding being spitted on the creatures spear. Returning his attention to the Naga, Aeron sent a volley of Magic Missiles into the monster, while Gyllipus made himself invisible and headed up the corridor towards the rest of the group having been hanging back. Backing off from the giant lizardman threatening him, Ash made his way back through the ceiling pendulums, getting hit by one on the way, but then holding his ground on the other side of them.

Ki touches Jebodiah wioth his wand tolend what healing he could to keeping the barbarian standing, and even though clearly exhausted, the dwarf nevertheless cut down the last Troglodyte. the big black scaled lizardman pitched a javelin at Ash but missed him, and Aerons shield brooch saved him from a volley of Magic Missiles that the Spirit Naga sent his way, Zamtap firing his pistol at the serpentine creature but missing narrowly. As Ki succumbed to the god awful stench in the corridor from spilt guts and squirted musk, Aeron muttered about how glad he was he didn't have to breathe, as he pulled out a scroll and unleashed a Lightning Bolt into the Naga. Unseen beside him, Gyllipus drank back a healing potion and headed further up the corridor to near where Zamtap, Ki and Jebodiah were standing in the T-junction amidst an impressive pile of torn and bloody bodies, the floor slick underfoot. Seeing an impasse, Ash cast Divine Favour on himself and sheathed his sword, arms folding across his chest and he just stood there staring at the big lizardman.

The humans resolve unnerving the big brute, he lowered his club and his head in surrender, grunting an acknowledgement of Ash's skills and then turning and heading off after pledging not to head south to Ss'inthee'ssaree, and after refusing to act as a guide for the group. The Spirit Naga sent a batch of Magic Missiles into Jebodiah then, dropping the dwarf again, and Ki again used his wand to help heal his berserker friends wounds. While Aeron cast a Shield spell on himself, Gyllipus moved swiftly up the corridor towards the Naga, and Zamtap placed a Lesser Vigor on Jebodiah to help stitch the dwarfs vicious wounds back together.

Ki ducks around a corner and out of the Naga's line of sight, the creature shimmering and vanishing from sight then as it made itself Invisible, slithering back around a corner to lie in wait. Zamtap walked over to where Aeron was stood, and healed the genasi's wounds then, while Jebodiah swigged back a healing potion, and Gyllipus crept ever closer to where he thought the Naga was. Seeing his corridor clear, Ash turned and headed back towards the rest of the group, calling to get Zamtap's attention as he had many wounds that needed seeing too.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the Naga grinned and its head darted forwards then, poisoned fangs sinking deeping into the throat of the invisible Gyllipus, tearing the life out of the unfortunate rogue, the monster reappearing as it did so. As Zamtap headed towards the Naga then with pistol in hand keen to get payback for the loss of his Gondsman, so Ki used his wand on Ash, and Jebodiah slumped down against a wall, gasping for breath, every inch of him aching from his exertions. Alarmed by the Naga sudden reappearance, Aeron sent a Defenestrating Sphere up the corridor toward it, but it missed, he heading up the corridor also behind Zamtap. Seeing the new danger to the parties spellcasters, Ash ran in pursuit of the pair, drawing his sword as he went.

Leaving Jebodiah to rest, Ki headed after the rest of the group, as the Naga slithered closer to Zamtap and lashed out, narrowly missing with its fanged bite, the Gondite priest staggering back, and blasting off a shot with his pistol which missed. Aeron stopped running then and sent his sphere at the Naga  again, it missing once more as the creatures coils shifted easily around the raging ball of air, though it did not avoid the Gedlee Electric Loop the genasi then dropped on it, the spell stunning the monster, as the wizard yelled to Ash "Kill it!", the paladin nodding grimly and charging into its midst, his sword running the creature through and ending it...

*DM's Notes:*

Well I wanted a bloodbath for the finale of the Dowinn's lode section and I got one, Gylippus dead, Tik Tok destroyed, every member of the group heavily wounded, and the group spellcasters all but exhausted of magic, Jebodiah literally exhausted having raged and frenzied to his limits. I know that Alastair has had his eye on playing a Druid for some time, so Gyllipus will be laid to rest and the Party with No Name now have a trek through the jungles towards the jungle city of the Yuan-ti... but not before looting the bodies of the fallen of course! Thus ends Chapter Three of the campaign! Plenty more to go yet though.


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Eight*

As the party made their way through the southern gatehouse, so the remainder of the tribe fled into the jungles, they being mostly females and children as well as a handful of warriors not willing to try their luck against a group that had just massacred their way through the cream of the tribes fighters and the chieftain too and could clearly continue to fight after that ordeal. They soon find a large hall and aside from the treasure piled on on a dias/nest at one end of the room, the discover a dark skinned man on the fungles tied up next to the dias, who after they have removed his bonds and gag introduces himself as Masembe, a druid of the Black Jungles and a sworn enemy of the Yuan-ti. Deciding to take a day to rest and recover from the wounds, the group organised itself into teams of two and swept through the gatehouse, systematically looting the bodies of the fallen, and recovering a sizeable haul of treasure and magic items.

On the next day (Nightal 15th), the group tallied up their haul and Aeron was able to identify the new unknown items in addtion to some of those taken from Gyllipus's body, the group deciding that their need in the battles to come outweighed the wizards need to be buried with all his possessions, they laying him to rest beneath a hastily built stone cairn in his finest clothes with only his unvaluable non-magical items as grave goods. During the ceremony outside, Masembe was reunited with Bends-Low-Branches his ape companion, which he nicknamed Ben for the convinience of the group. With the items identified, the group used the dice Ki had taken from gyllipus to determine who got what, and the haul was divided thusly:

*Aeron* - Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Hewards Handy Haversack and 2 potions of Cure Light Wounds
*Ash* - +1 Vicious Greatsword and a Hat of Disguise
*Masembe* - Peraipt of Wisdom +2, he then refusing another roll of the dice.
*Zamtap* - Ring of Major Cold Resistance and Gyllipus's spellstoring Rapier +1
*Ki* - Bracers of Armor +3 and Goggles of Minute Seeing
*Jebodiah* - Heavy Crossbow +2, Handaxe +2, a potion of Cat's Grace and 2 of Cure Light Wounds

The party haggled over various other items from the haul and it was decided that the wand of Cure Moderate Wounds would be best held by Ki, as he was the best suited to get through enemy ranks to use it on a fallen comrade.

On Nightal 16th the group set out from the gatehouse into the jungles, heading south towards the distant city, with Ben acting as scout on the ground, and Masembe flying high above as a condor, his keen hearing picking up a worrying sound, dragons roaring and calling to one another. Landing he shifted back into human form and explained what the noise the group could hear all around was, Aeron then straining and listening, understanding the language of the great lizards and his eyes went wide as he understood what he was hearing. He explained to the others that the dragons were calling to one another to gather together into a Flight and go north to attack the city on the coast...

"Tashluta!" the group whispered almost as one, keeping quiet as more and more dragons gave voice to their desire to join in the attack, Aeron swiftly realising that they were listening to a Rage of Dragons forming, a trace of savage cruelty and madness in the bellowed roars echoing through the trees around them. "We have to send warning!" he hissed, Zamtap nodding and stating that he could do that, but not until the next morning when he had time to pray for spells.

"They'll be almost on top of the city by then at the speed they fly!" groaned Ash in alarm.

"Better an hour or two's warning than none at all" was his curt reply, the priests face speaking volumes as it was clear this was the best he could hope to do. The good humour wiped from the group as they headed on their way south, Masembe masking their trail with a Pass Without Trace spell, the roars growing in pitch around them and then abruptly soaring upwards, as a couple Green and Black Dragons took to the wing and flew away towards the north, more and more dragons joining them above the jungle canopy, the flight assembling and winging away towards the coast.

The group travelled on in silence for the rest of the day, and camped beside a bubbling brook in a small clearing. Ash and Masembe went hunting for food, the paladin shooting a small boar and the druid preparing the meal, while Aeron masked their campsite with a Leomunds Tiny Hut (made to look like a green dome), to give the group some protection against being noticed. The group decided on which watches they would take, and went to bed for the night then.

It was near morning when Zamtap and Ki were on watch that their wariness was "rewarded" as they could hear the sounds of hissing from all round in the jungle undergrowth, but try as they might neither priest nor monk could make out the source of it. After a minute or so of fruitless looking, they decided to wake the others and as they did so, so they were attacked, several hidden snakes shifting form to rapidly become bipedal lizards with a single hooked claw on each foot and cunning intelligence in their beady eyes.

Ki activated his Shield of Faith brooch and tumbled through the undergrowth then to put himself behind one of the Ti-Khana Velociraptors, while Ash went for the more direct approach, slaughtering one of the altered creatures with his new greatsword, the paladin forgoing his normal tower shield to concentrate his efforts on taking down these creatures as fast as he was able. The Raptors screeched then and surged forwards into the group, their claws and bites raking at Zamtap, Ki and Masembe, injuring the monk and druid both, but finding no way through the priests armour plating. Backing away, Masembe cast a spell on himself, his skin altering to become like bark, as Ben slammed a fist into a Raptor and Zamtap swapped helmets and put on the one enchanted with contininous light so that all could see what was going on, the shed light illuminating the Raptor fighting Ki, which Aeron weakened with a Ray of Enfeeblement. Jebodiah simply rolled over and snored some more.

Ki's dagger missed and he ducked back under the shadow of the Tiny Hut, while Ash chopped down the Raptor that Ben had punched. A Raptor leapt at Zamtap then, raking the priest with its hind talons, the Gondite panicing as the Ti-Khana creatures aversion effect took hold, he fleeing into the jungle in terror of snakes, closely followed by Masembe who also succumbs, he sending a Creeping Cold spell at the nearest Raptor but the spell fizzles, and Ben dodges the snapping teeth of another of the altered dinosaurs. "What do you fear then?" Aeron muttered as he sent a Phantasmal Killer at another of the creatures, the spell killing the suddenly terrified dinaosaurs heart giving out and it collapsing to the floor, to a smirked "Me of course!" from the genasi.

Stepping back out of the hut, Ki deftly stabbed a Raptor, while Ash took up a defensive stance beside Aeron,  inside the shelter. A pair of Raptors moved in on the monk then, easily flanking and tearing into him with claws, talons and poisonous bites. Deciding that greater numbers would win the day, Masembe began casting a spell to summon another ape, as Ben tripped and missed a punch at the creature he was fighting, though Zamtap didn't, a pistol shot ringing out as he shot it. Aeron smiled and turned to Ash, chanting and imbuing the paladin beside him with Bull's Strength.

Tumbling away from the pair of Raptors that were intent on eating him, ki drew his new wand and healed up some of the grevious wounds they had inflicted, as Ash stepped up beside one of them and sliced it to ribbons with his greatsword. The Raptor battling Ben ripped into the ape with jaws and claws, as another ape appeared behind it, the pair injuring the dinosaur trapped between them, as Masembe immediately set about summoning yet another ape to overwhelm his chosen foe. Zamtap activated his brooch of Lesser Vigor to start tending to his wounds, while Aeron chanted and gestured at one of the two remaining creatures, sending a Lesser Electric Orb at it, the orb missing, but the Raptor shifted back into snake form anyway and vanished amidst the jungle foliage.

As Ki again used the wand to see to his wounds, so Ash charged the Raptor that was between the two apes, getting slashed by talons in the process but running the twsted creation through. The group looked about for a while, but it was soon clear that the surviviing Raptor had fled, and they settled down to patch up wounds and finish their nights rest, the group groaning as one as they noticed then that Jebodiah hadn't even woken up!

*DM's Notes:*

Well they are on their way through the jungles and after being isolated from the world for the past tenday or so spent underground, they now have a hint at what is beginning to happen in the world at large, as the Year of Rogue Dragons is almost upon them, and the Rage is already beginning to claim the minds of dragons across Faerun (and possibly all of Toril). As will be seen, the events of the coming year will play a big part in the storyline to come.

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better!


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## Fraggleonacid

And so RIP Gylippus, missed by no-one, but then that's how he might have wanted it.  

It will be interesting to find out if the Bracers of Armour +3 and/ or the Goggles of Minute Seeing are in some way cursed...


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## Imruphel

Hi Brakkart,

I've been eyeing this SH for some weeks now and finally had a chance to read it all today. Thanks for posting: it's been a great read! I look forward to reading more of your group's exploits!


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## Brakkart

Heya Imruphel, glad you like the Story Hour, and I'm impressed you read the whole thing straight through in one day! Glad my writing was able to keep you reading.


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## Imruphel

Yep, I certainly did enjoy your writing. Of course, I think your players need a couple of lessons in FR names...!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Thirty Nine*

Morning of Nightal 17th dawned without any further incidents and after praying for spells, Zamtap cast a Sending spell to send warning to the Farseer, the head of Savra's temple in Tashluta, of the raged dragon flights imminent arrival. He and Aeron had worked on the precise message the previous night, and it went thusly:

_"Frenzied Green and Black Dragons heading to attack Tashluta. Estimated time of arrival Midday. sorry for lack of warning. Savras be with you"_

Mere seconds later the Farseer sent back this reply:

_"Thank you for what warning you could send. We will do what we can. Savras be with you also"_

The priest then saw to the dealing with the debilitating effects of the Ti-Khana creatures venom, casting a Lesser Restoration to deal with most of the poison in Ki's veins, and then a couple healing spells to restore him to almost full health.. The party broke camp then and headed further south through the jungles along an old trail, Ben and Masembe (in Ape form) roving ahead of the group to scout.

After several hours of travelling, the druid and then Ash also, spotted a large number of snakes ahead, sprawled and coiled over the ground, and many tree branches, basking in the sunlight that streamed down through a break in the canopy above. Reporting back to the others, the group decided to forge ahead through the mass of snakes, though wary after last nights encounter, several of them chose to cast protective magics, especially Neutralise Poison, with Masembe casting it on Ash, Ki and Bends-Low-Branches.

Advancing down the pathway, Zamtap loaded his pistol and walked on warily, Aeron staying behind the armour-plated priest, while Ki ducked into the foliage and vanished from sight, he steathily creeping forwards, darting from bush to tree trunk to stay in cover, his nimble feet avoiding stepping on twigs, not a sound giving away his location. Ash chanted as he walked up to beside Zamtap, bolstering himself with a Bull's Strength spell, while Masembe led the way, moving up the trail ahead of the group and getting ambushed then as a pair of snakes, one on either side of the abruptly shifted shape, becoming bigger, and bigger, growing four short legs, their backs rippling with armoured plates as the tips of their tails grew large and bony, the pair revealing themselves to be Ti-Khana Ankylosaurs, the druid quickly shifting shape into that of a Condor to try and get airborne.

The monsters were faster though, twin huge club-like tails smacking down on the shifting man/bird before he could complete his transformation and badly hurting him. His shapechange complete, he flew up into the canopy above to perch on a branch well out of the creatures reach, as Ben leapt at one of the beasts, his thumps though impacting on the ankylosaurs armour-plated hide and doing nothing. Zamtap chanted and cast Mass Lesser Vigor on Ash, Ben, Aeron and himself, and Aeron followed suit with a Mass Enlarge Person on the cleric and paladin, Ash belolowing a batllecry and charging into one of the creatures, crashing through the undergrowth and smiting it. All the while, Ki had his prey in sight, and snuck ever closer towards it.

One of the beasts hammered Zamtap with its tail then, its jaws closing on Ash though thanks to Masembe's earlier spell, the poison in its fangs had no effect. The other monster bit and whalloped Ben, driving the Ape away, it fleeing through the jungle. Sat in the tree up above, Masembe cast an Arc of Lightning to strike at the pair of altered creatures, hurting both. Zamtap uttered a Prayer to boost his allies, while Aeron unleashed a Phantasmal Killer, slaying one of the ankylosaurs outright, ust as Ki reached it, the sneaky monk frowning and starting to creep towards the one engaged in melee with Ash, whose blows try as he might, just kept glancing off the dinosaurs impressive armour.

The beast had no such trouble in hitting the paladin though, its tail and jaws beating and biting him severely. From his lofty perch Masembe wove his hands and vbegan chanting a spell to call an ally, while Zamtaps warhammer glanced off the bony hide of the marauding Ti-Khana creature. Aeron had better luck though, his Gedlee's Electric Loop injuirng and stunning the great lizard, enabling Ash to actually hit it. Ki snuck closer to the beast, dagger drawn for a sneak attack...

Which never came, as the dinosaur missed with its tail and bite, and a huge crocodile appeared behind it, its jaws closing on the ankylosaur and tearing the life out of it, as up above Masembe cheered and laughed.

After healing themselves up, the group made their way past the steaming corpses, leaving them for the snakes to feed on, and they headed further south.

Camping that night under a Leomunds Actually Quite Large Dome (Leomunds Tiny Hut) that Aeron summoned into being, Ash and Masembe provide a small deerlike creature from their hunting, the druid identifying it as a Tabuk. Zamtap though preferred his trail rations, pulling them out of a pocket in his travel cloak.

On Nightal 18th, towards mid afternoon, the party decided to detour from their course and head up a small tree cloaked hill, hoping to get a better view over the land. Their reason for the abrupt change being the more frequent appearance of ruins amidst the jungle trees and vines now, often running across and having to trek around old walls of long since overgrown buildings, or spotting towering monuments choked in creepers and vines, everything decorated in ancient serpentine motifs and glyphs.

Masembe shifted into Condor shape again and flew up above the hill, spying then the vast sprawl of ruins along the shore of the Lapal Sea that could only be Ss'inthee'ssaree, the city running for miles along the shoreline, and up to a mile in depth into the jungle itself, once the capital of an empire than spanned the entire peninsula from Chult to the Shaar. He keeps his distance from the city itself, noting that other birds do likewise, but from as close as he dare get his excellent avian eyesight can spot numerous interesting locations, such as a huge plaza with a couple stepped pyramids overlooking it, a vast circular building with heavy foot traffic coming in and out, and a citadel of sorts with six towers shaped to look like snakes.

Having been told by the others what the Megalomen look like, he spies units of them drilling in the great plaza, and also on a balcony overlooking it a human dressed in black and red, standing beside a pureblood who is talking to a man with a staff dressed in purple, the druid getting a keen sense, even from miles away, that there was something terribly wrong about the purple-clad figure. Too from on high he spies other creations of the Yuan-ti, the Ssvaklors a couple dozen of them lounging on rooftops, as well as Yuan-ti of all sorts in the streets, many varieties of Ti-Khana creatures, and teams of jungle dwarf slaves. He spots regiments of lizardfolk and ophidians, and from many parts of the city he sees the smoke plumes of furnaces and foundries, the signs of a city marshalling for war.

He flew back down then, and reported all of this to the others in the group, a long silence following as the sheer scale of the task ahead of the group became clear to them... the silence broken when Aeron made an observation:

"Ssvaklors are dragons... if all the other dragons in this part of the world are raging... why aren't they?"

No-one had an answer.

*DM's Notes:*

Gotta love Ti-Khana creatures, dinosaurs are cool, but dinos with poison bites, spell resistance and the ability to shapechange into common snakes? Too cool! And yes, another monster from MM3 makes its appearance, the Ssvaklor, a wonderful Yuan-ti/Dragon hybrid.

No Jebodiah for the past couple sessions, but he'll be back next time as the group plan their assault on the ruined city of the snakemen.


----------



## Imruphel

Very cool. More please!


----------



## Deuce Traveler

Brakkart's work has always been fun to read. (wink) Hey, B.


----------



## Brakkart

Deuce Traveler said:
			
		

> Brakkart's work has always been fun to read. (wink) Hey, B.




Deuce you old dog! What are you doing here?    Thanks for the compliment and I'm on holiday for the next week, so look for some more session logs (got 3 to type up to get back up to date) in the next few days.


----------



## Deuce Traveler

I got back from Iraq, refound your site, been back to Austin a bit, and decided to follow your links and see what you were up to.

Next thing I know, I'm signing up for PbP D and D games. : )

When you're done with this one, sign me up for your next one.  This one looks great, by the by.  I haven't gotten the chance to play a rogue yet, though... a gnome cleric on one and a viking barbarian on another.


----------



## Brakkart

Deuce Traveler said:
			
		

> Next thing I know, I'm signing up for PbP D and D games. : )
> 
> When you're done with this one, sign me up for your next one.  This one looks great, by the by.  I haven't gotten the chance to play a rogue yet, though... a gnome cleric on one and a viking barbarian on another.




Love too, only this isn't a PbP game, we all sit around a table at the local games club every Friday night to play. You'd be very welcome to join us, but it'd be a hell of a commute!

And thanks, I'm kinda proud of this campaign, most of mine fold after a couple months, been going over a year now and the players are in chapter four. Considering I have plot through till something like chapter ten, this story hour will be ongoing for quite some time to come!

Well assuming my players are happy to continue with the campaign that is.


----------



## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty*

From what Masembe told them, the party decided that the most likely location for Esau's laboratory was in one of the two stepped pyramids overlooking the vast plaza, as only those two buildings corresponded to the location they saw in the scrying pool back in Tashluta, of a balcony overlooking a vast plaza lined with standing stones. with this in mind, the group realised that they needed to head around the outskirts of the city towards the northern end of the vast partially ruined sprawl to be closer to where their target was most likely to be.

They stayed low, travelling by means of a shallow overgrown ravine, which had plenty of canopy cover, so as to avoid detection from the air, as now and then they shrunk down as the winged form of a Ssvaklor would pass overhead. It was while pushing their way past bushes and through hanging creepers that one of the plants made a lunge at Zamtap who was bringing up the rear of the group, a huge maw opening in the bush narrowly missing the priest with its bite.

Hearing the clerics call of surprise and alarm, Ki tumbled in and slashed at the Tendriculos with his claw bracer which had little effect, simply tearing off a few leaves which grew back within seconds. A huge vine tentacle shot out from the plant mass then, wrapping itself about the ,onks usually nimble feet and picking him up off the ground, he dropped into the creature cavernous mouth, wooden teeth puncturing his flesh and holding him fast. Another tendril shot out to wrap about Aeron. Zamtap spread his hands and chanted, calling into being a Spritiual Warhammer and sends it to bash the creature, while he pulls out a bottle of Alchemist's Fire. Never one for subtlety. Jebodiah simply bellowed and charged into the fray, attacking with his new handaxe, Stormcleaver slung on his back as he had agreed with the others in the group that the chance of it thundering was too risky, and the noise would be far too likely to draw unwanted attention to them. Ben was right behind the dwarf, the big ape tearing into the plant monster, and causinbg it enough damage to distract it, Aeron taking advantage of that to slip free of its grip and back away, his mind remembering lessons on dangerous flora, and figuring out just what it was they were fighting, he calling to the others "Bludgeon it!". Masembe simply started summoning.

Struggling in the creatures mouth, Ki managed to get a punch in before he vanioshed from view, swallowed whole and sliding into the creatures gullet, he swallowed a mouthful of its strange stomach juices, his body going utterly rigid as he could feel himself being digested! The creature lashed out with both tentacles, missing Jebodiah with both, and hitting the side of the ravine behind the dwarf with one of them doing itself some damage. The glowing warhammer continued to batter it, zam,tap drawing his own warhammer and joining in the assault, giving up on firing it now that it has Ki in its belly. Jebodiah snarled as his axe sliced through leaves but did nothing more, none of his blows hitting anything of substance, and the ground erupted beside him then, as an Earth Elemental, summoned by Masemebe joined the fray, though its rocky fists failed to connect, the druid moving a bit closer and beginning another summoning spell. As Ben tore into the Tendriculos, so Aeron cast Mass Enlarge Person to make it impossible for the creature to swallow any more of the group.

The Tendriculos managed to bite Jebodiah then but was unable (due to the dwarves sudden increase in size) to grab him, and its tentacles missed both Ben and Zamtap, the clerics own warhammer striking it again, though the spiritual one missed. The pain from his wound sent Jebodiah in a frenzied rage, the barbarian tearing into the creature and dropping it, though as he stood victorious over it, it was apparent that its wounds were swiftly knitting back together, new leaves and branches rapidly replacing those his axe had snapped off. Finishing his chanting, Masembe gestured and a Thoqqua tunnelled upout of the ground, but missed with its glowing point, the elemental failed to hit, Ben tripped and fell over and the druid moved up to beside the collapsed creature and also missed! From the back of the party Aeron clapped his hands and called out encouragement!

Zamtap's spiritual warhammer swiftly put an end to the Tendriculos, and the started to try and get Ki free from inside the pile of collapsed vegetation. Jebodiah calmed his breathing and regained control of his temper, feeling the after effects of having lost it, buit nevertheless lending Zamtap a hand to pull their monk out, helped also by Ben, the task quickly accomplished. While Zamtap saw to patching up wounds sustained during the brief battle, Aeron and Masembe searched through its remains, but found just 60 pieces of gold for their efforts.

Reaching roughly the area they wanted, the group paused to come up with a plan, eventually settling on Masembe's idea to head into the city in stages, working their way closer towards their target and hiding in the ruins, being as stealthy as was possible. With this decided on, Masembe (in snake form) and Ki (being his usual sneaky self) went ahead of the rest of the party to find a suitable location for their first campsite in the ruins, returning a couple hours later to report having found a derelict bazaar of sorts, though with one snag, the place had numerous snakes lying around.

"Great," muttered Aeron "more instant dinosaurs".

With the possible threat of having one or more Ti-Khana creatures to deal with, the group debated trying to find another location, only for Masembe to point out:

"It's a city of snakemen, snake-like monsters and snakes. Wherever we try we are going to run into snakes. Ki and I looked at a few places, this is the best location we could find, some of the buildings still have roofs which we'll need to hide under to stay unseen by the Ssvaklor's".

With that in mind, the debate ended and the group readied itself for a possible fight as they made their way towards the ruined bazaar, activating brooches and casting numerous protective magics on themselves and each other, particularly Neutralise Poison.

Deciding to enter the bazaar from two of the alleyways that led into the broad courtyard, Ki sneaks down one, while behind him Masembe began summoning, while Jebodiah simply charged out and swung his aze into one of the many snakes basking in the tropical sunshine. Aeron flew up and hovered just over a ruined building at the edge of the courtyard, casting a Dispel Magic on several of the slumbering snakes that had no effect, while Zamtap moved into the courtyard also and readied a casting of Doom.

Masembe gestured and conjured a crocodile into being, its jaws snapping at a snake near Ki but missing, as the snake shifted form, growing and growing, to the alarm of the nearby monk and those watching, it taking on a huge two legged form, massive jaws filled with dagger-like teeth opening as its eyes spotted Ki almost instantly , drawn by the monks attempt to move stealthily. Jebodiah finished off the snake he had sliced already and on seeing the huge shape of the Ti-Khana Tyrannosaurus Rex, he ducked into a doorway. From his vantage point, Aeron had a grand view of the great lizard and imediately cast Phantasmal Killer at it, but the spell merely hurt the creature.

*DM's Notes:*

Figured I'd end the groups run of T-Khana creatures with a real doozy. I love T-Rexes, have done since I was a kid, and I'm a huge fan of the Jurassic Park movies so it was kinda inevitable that I'd fit one in somewhere in the dinosaur jungle. A shame I couldn't have a Spinosaurus really, but a TK Spiney would be like CR 15 and there is no way the group would survive that fight! Tricky part is I need the party to go up a couple levels so either they face lots and lots of creatures (not really realistic, such losses would soon be noticed by those in the city and a far more more powerful force than the PC's could handle would be dispatched to hunt them down), or a few tough battles against higher CR rated creatures. Neither option is without its difficulties though!


----------



## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty One*

Huge jaws snapping forward, the T-Rex bit Ki, fangs pumping venom into the monks helpless form as he was lifted in its jaws up off the ground. Ben bounded forwards, hands pummelling the ground as the big ape raced to help, his claws opening a gash on one of the mighty lizards leg, while the crocodile failed to bite the towering dinosaur. From behind his animals, Masembe began summoning another ally, as Jebodiah charged past, his axe hacking into the Tyrannosaur's other leg. Aeron flies across the bazaar to hover abover a building nearer the fray and he cast a Ray of Enfeeblement at the big lizard, but it failed to do anything. Ash who had been brining up the rear of the party, headed into the courtyard and on seeing what they were up against, immediately cast a Bull's Strength spell on himself. Zamtap chanted out a prayer and cast Mass Lesser Vigor on Jebodiah, Ki, Masembe, Ben and himself and then moved in closer to the melee.

Tossing its head back, the T-Rex swallowed Ki whole, the monk groaning "Not Again!" as he slid down the creatures throat, it then stepping back. Masembe summoned another crocodile, but it vanished as soon as it arrived, the Tyrannosaur's jaws tearing it apart. The other crocodile and Ben closed the distance with the Rex, the croc again missing, but both of Bens claws raked across the scaly hide of one leg, opening further wounds. chanting non-stop, Masembe pressed on with summoning, calling for another creature to aid him. As the stomach acid of the T-Rex took its toll on Ki, so he used his wand to try and keep himself alive a little longer, closing some wounds even as more apeared. Jebodiah's axe hit but once, doing very little, while a volley of Magic Missiles from Aeron had no effect, the wizard growling about "goddamned magic resistant monsters". Moving towards the battle, Ash took the time to cast Divine Favour on himself, while Zamtap cast Prayer to boost his allies, but it failed to have any effect on the dinosaur in their midst.

the life slipped from Ki then as the acid in the T-Rexes stomach proved too powerful,. the monks soul departing for the Fugue Plane, as his killer contined its rampage, huge jaws snapping shut on Jebodiah and lifting the dwarf into the air to the muttered growls of "Gerroofff!" Another crocodile appeared and together both croc's bit and lashed the T-Rex with their tails, while Bens claws missed entirely. In the dinosaurs jaws, Jebodiah struggled but failed to break loose. Seeing that the group needed to win this fight soon before they all ended up in the Rexes's guts, Aeron casts Haste on everyone except himself, though he did speed up both of the crocs and Ben too! Seeing his friend about to be lunch brought Ash charging into the fray calling out "Jeb!!" as he smote the dinosaur, his vicious greatsword wounding the T-Rex and himself. Zamtap drew his warhammer and charged in but his blow missed.

"Arrgghhh" was heard as Jebodiah vanished down the T-Rexes throat, the crocs and Ben taking advantage of the dinosaurs attention being momentarily elsewhere to attack. While both of the crocs missed, Ben bit and clawed a leg. Swallowed but by no means no out, Jeb held his breath and hacled at the creatures stomach lining, cutting a bloody exit from its guts for himself. Seeing Jebodiah out, Aeron loosed off a Lesser Electric Orb, it hurting the beast as the wizard grinned "Can't resist that can you?", he called out trumphantly, as ash stepped in and tore the creature apart with his sword, cutting through one leg and then as the T-Rex fell to the ground, driving the blade to the hilt into its skull.

Together with Jebodiah, the paladin cut the remains of Ki out of the Tyrannosaur's guts, and the party then argued about what to do with the huge corpse, it being a very obvious sign of their presence. Ash was in favour of hacking it apart, while Aeron preferred to simply preserve it with a Gentle Repose. Zamtap chipped with with the notion of burying it entirely in stones, and ash and Masembe favoured simply moving on. In the end, they elected to drag the corpse (mostly done by Ash, Jeb and Ben) some distance away into a ruin with a roof, and use a Stonewall spell to seal it inside, with Masembe casting Plant Growth on the area of the battle to cover up all the evidence of spilled blood and guts. The party decided to camp that night at the bazaar in one of the old shops that still retained a roof, and though watches were posted the night went by without event.

The next morning as the party finished prayers and Aeron closed his spellbook, Jebodiah on watch in the doorway spotted a winged shape descending towards them, he growling back at the others "Ssvaklor!"

His hands and lips moving immediately, Masember chanted and cast Neutralise Poison on Jebodiah, as the creature landed and breathed out a torrent of poisonous gas at the dwarf and druid, Masembe choking on the fumes. Ash cast Divine Favour on himself and drawing his sword strode out to face the beast, Zamtap moving out also, but his Spiritual Warhammer missed, as did Aeron's Ray of Enfeeblement as the wizard moved out and immediately ducked into another doorway. Jebodiah stayed where he was and tapped his Shield of Faith brooch to activate it.

Masembe gestured and cast Neutralise Poison on himself and Ben, the druid and ape then moving out to join the others, with Ben clawing at the Ssvaklor but missing, though the dragon raked the ape in return. Ash moved in close and smote the dragon, while Zamtap's Spiritual Warhammer missed again, the cleric grunting and drawing his dragonbane warhammer, moving in closer to the creature. Jebodiah moved out of the ruin, as Aeron cast Mass Enlarge Person to boost the dwarf, Ash and Zamtap in size.

Ben claws again raked over the Ssvaklor's thick scaly hide but failed to wound the dragon in any way, Masembe chanting and casting Magic Fang on his ape companion, as the Ssvaklor tore into Ash, clawing him terribly, his teeth ripping into the paladin and poisoning him also. Staggering from his wounds, Ash swung wildly at his foe, both his attacks going wide though. The Spiritual Warhammer smacked into the dragon then, as did Zamtap's own warhammer. While Jebodiah hung back, Aeron waved a hand and sped things up a bit with a Haste spell to boost the rest of the party.

Growling, Ben clawed the dragon, his enhanced claws tearing easily through its hide this time. Moving around behind the group, Masembe placed a hand on Ash's back and cast a Cure Serious Wounds to help keep the paladin on his feet. The Ssvaklor backed away from the group, its mouth blasting forth a cloud of poisonous gas to envelope Ash and Zamtap, but affecting only the priest. However, it took a blow from Ash's sword in the process, and the paladin was not about to let his foe get away,charging after the dragon and cutting it down, as Zamtap cast Neutralise Poison on himself to cleanse his lungs of the remaining gas.

Having rested for the night, Zamtap knelt beside Ki's body and called to his spirit with a Speak With Dead, learning that the monk had no desire to return to life, a new adventure laying before him on the planes. ash and Jeb hauled away the Ssvaklor's corpse and hid it nearby. Returning to the others, the party decided that their best course of action was to rest up a day to recover from the poison, as well as see to burying Ki and dividing up whatever they weren't going to inter with him.

*DM's Notes:*

As can be seen, the problem with less enciunters but with more powerful creatures is their tendency to munch characters! So passes Ki Tendragion, a character whose phenomenal ability to dodge left him with a low AC and BAB and ultimately led to him getting eaten twice in one day by a Tendriculos and Tyrannosaurus. Hell of a way to go! With his death the party lose their last stealth oriented character, and since Tony intends on a cleric for his next character, it seems the group are about to reinforce their usual "Bull in a China Shop" approach of brute force and ignorance backed by massive spellpower and plenty of healing. Time will tell how successful this is, though if anyone can pull this off it will be my lot!


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## Imruphel

Bravo!!!

More please....


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## Deuce Traveler

He should really think about that one long and hard.  I think the party would be better served with a ranger.  First, a ranger would make a bit of sense to introduce in the jungle environment.  Second, the ranger would make up for this party's lack of range attacks and can fight melee if need be.  Third, he can be stealthy and scout.  Fourth, he can cast minor priest spells like healing.

A rogue wouldn't be bad, either, but I like rogues so I'm biased.  A bow focused ranger 5/ rogue 3 character would also benefit from criticals with a bow.


----------



## Fraggleonacid

Deuce Traveler said:
			
		

> He should really think about that one long and hard.  I think the party would be better served with a ranger.  First, a ranger would make a bit of sense to introduce in the jungle environment.  Second, the ranger would make up for this party's lack of range attacks and can fight melee if need be.  Third, he can be stealthy and scout.  Fourth, he can cast minor priest spells like healing.




All good points, no doubt, and Tony did think long and hard about his next character I'm sure.  Boy is this Cleric sick...sick, sick, sick.  Hats off to Tony for another short and chirpy denizen of Oz.  Respect.



			
				Deuce Traveler said:
			
		

> A rogue wouldn't be bad, either, but I like rogues so I'm biased.  A bow focused ranger 5/ rogue 3 character would also benefit from criticals with a bow.




Yeah a mixed class Rogue was what I was playing before, but sneaky isn't the idiom for this group.  "Bull in China Shop" is playing to our strengths and you never know, one or two of us might even survive...


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## Deuce Traveler

Well, like Brakkart knows, I like my sneaky types. : )  Still, it has been fun reading and I must admit that your group gets imaginative when the odds are against you.


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## Imruphel

Brakkart, any chance of an update today... pretty please?


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## Brakkart

Imruphel said:
			
		

> Brakkart, any chance of an update today... pretty please?




Sorry but not today. I've got too much else to do to spend a couple hours typing up the notes from session 42. I will try and get them done tomorrow evening though, but no promises.


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## Deuce Traveler

No Soup For You!


----------



## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty Two*

So for the rest of Nightal 18th the party rested and saw to their wounds and their dead friend, Zamtap presiding over a brief ceremony as they interred Ki's remains in a ruined building and covered them with a dome made using the priests domain spell of Stoneshape. That night went by without further event, though on discussing a plan to sneak into the heart of the city to scout it out, Aeron was dimsmayed to learn that only Ash and Masembe had any real means of disgusing themselves, meaning that his magic was going to have to do for the rest of the group.

The morning of Nightal 19th dawned with rain pouring down and a really rather miserable Ash and Jeb on watch peering out of the door of their ruined building, at the deluge, and then from some distance away Ash heard the sounds of approaching voices and he signalled Jeb to wake the others, as he headed out into the rain moving closer to the road to see who or what was coming their way. As the sky began to clear, he could just make out a group of yuan-ti halfbloods and an abomination entering the city edge from the surrounding jungles and marching down the road that would lead them past where the group had staked out as their camp. But what really got the paladin's attention was the nearly naked human hanging from a pole between two of the halfbloods.

With the others awake by now, some hurriedly donned what armour they could, while making their way towards Ash's vantage point, intending to spriing a hastily prepared ambush, while others cast spells to bolster themselves. As the patrol headed past the entrance to the ruined bazaar, so Ash drew his sword, hefted his shield and stepped out into the open, being immediately spotted by the Abomination at the head of the group, it bellowing a warning to the rest of its patrol.

Immediately one of the halfbloods vanished from sight (Hereth) and the abomination drew its sword, its skin beginning to secrete acid. Aerons hands wove in a familiar gesture as he cast Shield on himself. From further down the road, Jebodiah moved out into plain sight, heading towards the abomination as it was the biggest target. Another of the halfbloods (Shamoor) seeing Jebodiah approach chanted and unleashed a Venom Bolt at him, the torrent of poison wounding and slowing the dwarf. Seeing which one cast the spell, Ash charged into him, getting hit by the abomination en route, smiting and badly wounding the snakeman cleric. The other three halfbloods, drop their prisoner to the ground, draw their weapons and spread out, only for one of them to get torn into by a suddenly appearing bear, Masembe working his usual magic to summon animal allies, he then casting an Entangle spell on the road heading further into the city to slow down any escape this patrol might try and make. At the very back of the group, Zamtap trudged closer to the action, still fiddling with what little armour he managed to get on.

From her new position of safety, unseen, the wizardess Hereth cast a Lesser Globe of Invulnerability on herself, as not far away the hulking abomination slashed and cut the dwarf, but its bite failed to connect with the paladin. Aeron muttered words of power and cast Fly on himself, heading up over a rooftop and peering down on the fight in the road. His wounds bringing on his battle frenzy, Jebodiah hacked at the monstrous snakeman before him, rage lending further strength to his blows. Shamoor backed away from Ash, intending to get some distance away and see to his wounds. He never got the chance, the Sunite bellowing a warcry and charging after him, ducking a scimitar one of the other halfbloods swung at him on the way, smiting and cutting him down. Two of the yuan-ti rangers moved in on Zamtap and Ash then, though neither managed to score a telling blow, as the third ranger was grabbed and crushed in the grasp of the bear, even as Masembe began another summoning. Zamtap ignored the ranger closing in on him, to send a Spiritual Warhammer at the abomination, though it failed to hit the creature.

Grasping a rod, Hereth sent a fireball soaring up towards where Aeron was hovering, aiming to blast the wizard out of the sky. The rods magic enlarged the ball until it engulfed Aeron, Masembe, Zamtap and one of the rangers, injuring all of them. Realising that he had a wizard to deal with, Aeron figured out roughly where the fireball had come from and cast an area Dispel Magic to try and reveal Hereth, though due to the globe surrounding her it had no effect, instead dispelling the Bull's Strength spell Ash had earlier cast on himself. Trading blow for blow, Jebodiah grunted as twice he was cut by the abominations scimitar, dealing the same number of cuts in return. Suddenly weakened, Ash's blows failed to get past the scalemail of the range rhe was fighting, but neither could the snakeman get past the paladins platemail, the ranger fighting Zamtap also failing to hit his foe. The bear tore apart the third ranger then, as another Black Bear apeared. Masembe headed down off the rooftop where he had been hiding and shifted form into that of an ape. As Zamtap's Spiritual Warhamer again missed the abomination, so he headed towards the large snakeman, intent on healing Jebodiah.

hissing a curse that her fireball failed to take out the wizard, Hereth sent a Phantasmal Killer at Aeron to try and complete the job, but the air genasi easily shrugged off the spell. Try as he might, Jebodiah just couldn't seem to land a blow on the abomination, his foe slithering around every swing of the dwarfs axe, slashing him twice in return. Knowing that while she was under her globe, he couldn't affect the wizardess, Aeron instead cast a Gedlee's Electric Loop on the ranger fighting Ash, stunning him, the paladin then easily running him through. The last remaining ranger fired an arrow at Aeron, which bounced off the wizards previously cast spell that warded him against arrows. Masembe called out to Ben who came running from where he had been staying at the far end of the bazaar. Both bears charged into the abomination then, clawing at him. Casting Speak with Animals, Masembe started to try and sniff out Hereth's location. Zamtap tried to heal Jebodiahs many wounds, but the spell failed as he was slashed by the abominations scimitar.

Seeing that her patrol was lost, Hereth grasped the rod again and fireballed everyone except for the ranger and Aeron, the blast killing the abomination and one of the bears and badly injuring both Jebodiah and the bound prisoner and she flees then. Aerons Phantasmal killer failed to do anything to the ranger he sent it at, and Jebodiah headed towards the groups last visible opponent, the yuan-ti backing away from both Ben and the oncoming dwarf. Masembe and Ben sniffed out a scent trail and began stalking the escaping wizardess, with the druid also casting a Cure Light Wounds on himself. Zamtap also saw to his wounds with a Cure Moderate Wound, and he then headed towards the prisoner who Ash was busy untying.

Seeing the two apes closing in, Hereth cast Haste on herself and sped away down a side road not blocked by the entangling vines. Aeron threw a Lesser Electric Orb at the ranger, badly hurting him, in time for Jebodiah to advance and cut the snakeman apart. As Masembe and Ben continued to follow Hereth's scent trail, soAsh unfastened the last of the prisoners bonds and laid hands on him to heal his considerable wounds, the recued man introducing himself as Chand.

Continuing to move away, Hereth snarled and sent a volley of Magic Missiles into Masembe to deter further pursuit. the druid backing off around a corner. Aeron swigged back a moderate healing potion and flew over to see what help he could lend to Masembe. Behind the group though, Jebodiahs frenzied state of mind continued, the dwarf losing sight of friend and foe, and hefting his axe he advanced towards the closest target, Zamtap! Seeing the dwarf coming and the grim intent in is eyes and snarled words, Ash sheathed his sword and hefted his tower shield, placing himself in front of the cleric. Hearing that they were looking for an invisible wizardess, Chand focused his arcane sight granted to him by Mystra, but could not see their elusive foe.
Zamtap then cast Obscuring Mist on himself, though because of his proximity to Ash and Jebodiah, he cloaked those two from sight of the others also.

As her invisibility spell began to expire, Hereth fled as fast as she could run, and totally out of sight of the group. Angry at her escape, Aeron blasted a Scintillating Sphere into a nearby tree setting it ablaze and stalked off, much to the annoyance of Masembe. Jebodiah frenzedly attacks Ash but his axe just hits the paladins shield as Ash concentrated on defending himself. Zamtap backed away then, taking his mist with him, and letting the rest of the group see what was going on, Chand immediately cast Hold Person on Jebodiah, but the spell fails to stop the maddened barbarian.

Heading back to the building the group were camping in, Aeron cast Hold Person on Jebodiah as he passed, his spell stopping the barbarian's attacks, though Jeb's eyes bulged with the strain of trying to break the enchantment. Ash drew his sword then and began beating his frienbd with the flat of the blade, hoping to knock him senseless, but to no avail, the blows seeming to have no effect, and mere seconds later the dwarfs efforts to break loose paid off and he hacked into the paladin, badly wounding Ash. With no choice left to him, Ash began using the edge of his sword, cutting apart his friend even as he pleaded with the dwarf to cease his madness.

So it was that Jebodiah's fourth death was at the hands of his best friend, the paladins blade running him through and sending his spirit once again on to the Fugue Plane. Zamtap walked up and laid a hand on Ash's shoulder, healing him, even as Masembe and Ben cornered Aeron and shouted at him for needlessly destroying a tree, the wizard simply shrugging and using Prestidigitation to give himself ear plugs.

*DM's Notes:*

Well one new character joins the group, and another dies... again. He'll be back no doubt. Also one of the yuan-ti escaped to possibly bring warning to the rest of the city of the groups presence. Still a little annoyed that Ash hacked my cleric down so fast, still Hereth did well and will likely turn up again at some point. I'd write more but right now I am ill and have a stinking headache.


----------



## Deuce Traveler

So what type of cleric is being played?


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## Fraggleonacid

Deuce Traveler said:
			
		

> So what type of cleric is being played?




You mean besides short and cheery with a fondness for travelling yellow brick roads?

Cleric of Mystra.  Actually, now I come to think of it, "We're off to see the wizard" could be something of a signature tune for the whole church of Mystra...


----------



## Fulcan

I just finished catching up after discovering this thread a couple of days ago.  Sounds like you all are having great fun and I look forward to reading more.

Cheers!


----------



## williem-de'bloodie

sorry guys i dont think ash should wake up from the sleep he just entered,

i seem to have lost all interest in rp over the last few weeks and i should take a break from it,

enjoyed playin with u all.

but its time to hang up my dice bag for a while.


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## Cromm10k

Awesome campaign! Great story hour! I realy like it!   Took me only two days to catch up...


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## Son_Of_Sparda

Greetings!

Matt here- yes I was finally able to register onto enworld; it's been so frustrating just reading the posts....

At last everyone's favourite Dwarf will have a say on these humble pages- now, how about that fan club...

Just to let all my fellow roleplayers know that I am thoroughly enjoying Friday nights, and hope this campaign continues.

Sorry to hear you're giving up Dan, how much gold were you carrying again?   

Matt (and Jeb)
*huggles*


----------



## gadget1000

dan  here usin richies comp

none it was all hidden, same as my kit


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## Imruphel

Please, Mr Brakkart, may I have some more?


----------



## Fraggleonacid

gadget1000 said:
			
		

> dan  here usin richies comp
> 
> none it was all hidden, same as my kit




Alternatively, it was all about his person, quietly digesting in the stomach of that Svakl..Svek...Svacl...Dragon thing...


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## Son_Of_Sparda

Curses!
Now I... I mean mean _we_ won't be able to sell/use your stuff?
Are you planning to return? Or is our magic number going to be reduced to 5??
It seems that we'll only be playing 'til the end of chapter 5 (sniff) so is it worth leaving now?- it does mean that the only lump-takers are myself and Tony and our only healers are Ali, Tony and Gareth (I know it sounds like we have enough already, but it's my neck on the line here! ...not that I have a problem with dying, you understand, I'm just getting fed up of the XP loss (seriously, I've gone through 3 character sheets now).

Ahem... rant over, I'll leave it to Brakkart to break the news.

'Til next time


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## williem-de'bloodie

Son_Of_Sparda said:
			
		

> Curses!
> Now I... I mean mean _we_ won't be able to sell/use your stuff?
> Are you planning to return? Or is our magic number going to be reduced to 5??
> It seems that we'll only be playing 'til the end of chapter 5 (sniff) so is it worth leaving now?- it does mean that the only lump-takers are myself and Tony and our only healers are Ali, Tony and Gareth (I know it sounds like we have enough already, but it's my neck on the line here! ...not that I have a problem with dying, you understand, I'm just getting fed up of the XP loss (seriously, I've gone through 3 character sheets now).
> 
> Ahem... rant over, I'll leave it to Brakkart to break the news.
> 
> 'Til next time





til next time it is


i jus need  a break dude

jus not enjoyin it at the mo


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty Three*

With their foes dead or fled, the group returned to the ruin they were camping in and questioned their new associate, the man who had been the Yuan-ti's prisoner. He introduced himself as Chand, his accent marking him as a native of Halruaa, and his garb (once recovered from the sack that one of the Rangers was carrying), clearly identifies him as a priest of Mystra. He informed the group that he and his small expedition had set out into the Mhair Jungles to explore the ruins of the lost civilisation there, and had been surprised in an ambush by a force of Yuan-ti. The snakemen had slaughtered his companions and captured him. He explained that they had been bringing him to a temple in the city for use as a special sacrifice.

When the group fill him in on their names and reason for being there, he eagerly agreed to join their quest, seeking both revenge for the loss of his friends, and a chance to "make sure this lost civilisation is well and truly lost!". Borrowing the groups scroll of Raise Dead, Chand set about returning Jebodiah to life, the dwarf soon back in the land of the living... again! Once Zamtap and Ash had used their spells and abilities to heal the numerous wounds suffered by the group, everyone took part in looting the bodies of the fallen snakemen, recovering a wealth of art treasures, potions and scrolls.

Zamtap and Ash then set off to find a new campsite for the party, figuring that where they were was now compromised, while the others took it upon themselves to scout towards the centre of the city, under cover of a Seeming spell cast by Aeron which masks the appearance of Chand, Jebodiah and himself (Masembe simply shifted into snake form and draped himself around Jebodiah's shoulders). The foursome then set off into the less ruined parts of the massive city, looking around the large plaza where Masembe had seen the Megalomen drilling while as a condor, they now getting a much closer look at the small army being put through its paces by a squad of distinctive yuan-ti lieutenants, under the command of one General Rattlor, a real brute of a snakeman with a large tail ending in a rattle.

On their tour the group pass what they assume to be Esau's laboratory, a squat three tier stepped pyramid facing onto the plaza, as well as a larger five tier pyramid in the same style, that is clearly a temple. Having left the plaza behind and on their way back towards their old campsite to meet up with the cleric and paladin, they are forced to stop and bow by the arrival of a Sarrukh and its retinue of fawning yuan-ti and lizardfolk sycophants, the aura of power surrounding this ancient creature duly humbling them as it passes them by.

Reaching their old campsite but before Zamtap and Ash have returned, Masembe announced that he was going back into the jungles for an hour or two to release Bends Low Branches back into the wild, as the ape could not be brought with them on the attack they were planning, and he didn't want to leave him waiting in the city for the snakeme to find. Having nothing better to do, the others agree to come along with him.

After trekking an hour or so into the foliage the group come upon a large clearing on either side of a pond, it fed by a bubbling brook. As Masembe was saying his goodbyes to his faithful companion, so he and Aeron spotted a lurking threat, a huge Deathcoils snake making its way through the pond towards them!

Wasting no time, Masembe immediately chanted and warded himself with a Neutralise Poison, as the massive snake swam over and bit Jebodiah, swiftly wrapping itself about the dwarf, grappling him. For his part the dwarf didn't even bother trying to wriggle loose, raging instantly, drawing his handaxe and hacking at the snake around him, intent on hewing a way out through it! Aeron selected a spell to help from his mind, and inflicted the Deathcoils with a Ray of Enfeeblement, while Chand empowered himself with a Shield of Faith and strode towards the creature, drawing his mace!

As Masembe started summoning aid, so Bends Low Branches joined his friend in one last battle, leaping in and biting the snake, even as it constricted around Jebodiah, the dwarf grunting as the air was squeezed from his body, but he still managed to wriggle free, ducking as the Deathcoils unleashed a blast of poison from its mouth which had no effect at all on anyone struck by it! With Jebodiah free, Aeron dropped a Gedlee's Electric Loop on the hapless snake, stunning it, and making it all too easy for Chand and Bends Low Branches to finish the beast off with mace and claw.

With his goodbyes said, Masembe headed back to the city with the party, as Bends Low Branches turned and made his way back towards the mountains where he came from. Meeting up with Zamtap and Ash, the group headed towards a new campsite, in a ruined tower, quite some distance from where they had been camped out, where they settled under cover for the night.

*DM's Notes:*

So with Dan and Gareth absent this week, I was a bit stuck with regard to what to run, and the session was a bit sluggish as a result. Which is probably why Alastair came up with the idea of releasing his ape back into the wild, a golden opportunity for an encounter. The Deathcoils was a bit too easy really, should probably have had the party face off against a couple of them, but ohh well. It was still a fun (if brief) fight, and livened up an otherwise fairly dull evening.

The group also got their first look at the NPC group of Snakemen that I designed based upon the Snakemen in the Masters of the Universe cartoon. They will face these in battle in a couple sessions time.


----------



## Imruphel

Cool! More please!


----------



## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty Four*

Secure for the moment in their new camp, the group spent most of the morning of Nightal 20th discussing what to do next, as well as briefing Ash and Zamtap with what they had seen during their scouting trip into the city. A lengthy debate then took place, with Chard reminding the others of their objectives in needing to kill Esau and his lover Domino, as well as destroy the cloning tubes and all copies of Esau's research so that his research cannot be used again.

For once it was Jebodiah who was daunted by the scope of their mission, the barbarian actually questioining whether a less blunt approach might be possible. It was quickly argued by everyone else though, that no, that was their mission and nothing less than completing those objectives would serve to stem the threat the snakemen posed. Various ideas were bandied about, with Zamtap suggesting that Masembe (in snake form) infiltrate Esau's laboratories and bite him, and Chand coming up with the idea of splitting up to hit several targets at once. Jebodiah and Ash though both reminded the others that although they were both keen to strike at the targets, they needed to know where they were first.

Leaving the others to plan a direct offensive, Masembe (in snake form) and Ash (using his Hat of Disguise) headed into the city centre to scout further. When they got there, the pair parted ways, Masembe slithering into the vast stepped pyramid temple and heading down through the layers of cellars below it, looking for a way out of the city. Ash meanwhile, headed into the smaller stepped pyramid that housed Esau's laboratory. There he got into a conversation with a pureblood scientist whilst watching the distressing sight of a Stegosaurus being converted into a T-Khana creature, the vast reptile strapped down to a stone dias and being injected with various serums via intravenous drips.

Wandering about the complex he was present when Esau, Domino and Chan made an appearance on the ground level (normally spending their time sequestered on the upper floors), even getting a few moments to talk with the scientist himself on the pretense of delivering a warning, he making mention of an adventuring group's presence in the city. What he saw in Esau's eyes then shocked him and he barely managed to hide it. He saw hope in the slitted eyes of the genius they had pursued to Chult. Esau tells him to learn what he can of this group and report back to him the next day.

Returning to the others Ash reports that he has an audience with Esau Enoch the following day, though it does take him a while to calm them down when he reveals just what information he had to let slip in order to get it! Many hours later Masembe returns to the group, having spent a while observing the lowest chamber in the temple, 5 levels below the surface, a room with a central platform amidst a pit of writhing snakes. He reports that it is a two way portal to the city of Hlondeth and it should serve as their escape from the city, if they can get to it in time after destroying Esau's laboratory.

Nightal 21st dawns and the groups debate turns to how best to communicate with Esau, the talking going on so long and so passionately that no-one notices Ash slipping out and heading away to meet with the renegade scientist by himself. Arriving at the laboratory, he is shown upstairs and in a well appointed lounge as Chan and Domino watch on quietly, he listens to Esau rant!

"I am a prisoner... do you know what that is human?"

"I've never been one myself"

"Then you are, in that sense at least, more fortunate than I. This mind" Esau tapped his forehead "is the greatest thing my race has ever produced. The sarrukh are on another level entirely, but they ignore me. Have you seen them?"

Ash nodded slowly "Yes I saw one on my way here today, looks like aYuan-ti but more so. Has a pack of followers with it?"

"Sycophants more like. Yes that is them. The Sarrukh, creators of my race and various others. But they ignore me. I'm the one who can get them back the empire that they chastise my brethren for having lost. But they ignore me because I bettered them. I created a race that is easy to produce, fanatically loyal, strong, tough, immune to poison and that can be created swiftly, in vast numbers. I did better than them and for that I am shunned by them."

"The Yuan-ti... the Vrael Olo I should say, for that is how we refer to ourselves are wonderful creations of theirs. But we are too ambitious for their liking and in time, as our creators gre lazy, we usurped their place and came to rule ourselves. They grew less and less and eventually most went into hibernation... but no longer"

"Now they wake as Sseth is angry. All of us can feel it, an energy that compels us to do more, to succeed where we have failed time and time before. It is no accident that it is now that I was able to create the Megalomen, I was inspired you might say. With them we might yet retake our lands. Yes OUR lands, make no mistake about that human. Your people have a history of civilisation going back what... 3000 years? Netheril was the greatest thing you primitives ever created and it fell out of the sky because of your own hubris. My people have dwelt in these jungles, ruled these lands for more than 30,000 years. What right do you have to this land. None!" Esau spat.

"I didn't say I had any right to this land" the paladin retorted

"But you come here nonetheless to try and stop us from reclaiming it! Your people have no claim here, humans are worthless. You breed like crazy and spread like a plague. Make no mistake human, I'm evil. I hold your entire race in contempt! But still... I want to destroy my work. all of it. They don't deserve to have it"

"Can't you just create more elsewhere?" asked Ash.

"Yes I could, but not here. There is no point here" the scientist sighed.

At the paladins questioning look, Esau continued "I live. Domino lives, Chan lives. But I need your help to get out of here. Agree to that and I'll tell you the rest"

Ash paused for a moment before nodding slowly "There is a portal in the bottom of the temple, that's next door. We have a skilled wizard with us and you have your lady's magics also. Helping you escape is possible, even probable. What else is there that we need to know?"

Esau smiled, not at Ash but at his lady sat nearby and then continued "When I leave here I'll go to Kara-Tur, that is where I was living until I was summoned back to Faerun by my benefactor, who I know only by the initial D. Still you likely know all of this from reading my journal. I assume you found it in Wolfhill House?"

"The group found your journal yes, but they had lost it by the time I joined them in Calimport"

"Then the others have likely taken it"

"The Others?"

"We are pawns you see? My people out there in the city around us believe that the Megalomen armies will reconquer the Chultan peninsula, will reclaim Serpentes of old. Ohh they might very well do so, but we won't get to keep it. We are being used as.... agents of chaos. Our amries will spread death and terror in the jungles, weaken the human states around us like Thindol, Samarach, Lapaliiya, Tashalar, perhaps even mighty Halruaa itself. But we won't get to keep any of those lands, because our armies will be weakened from the fighting also and so we will fall to what is coming"

"And what is that?" queried Ash.

"There is a Rage coming, you might have seen some effects of it already. Dragons roaring and grouping together to fly and attack"

"Yes we saw that in the jungles on our way here"

The scientist got up and paced a little before continuing "This Rage is different, it won't be like the others before it. This one won't end. I know this because I'm a genius and I've met the lunatic responsible for unleashing this... force of nature on the world. His followers refer to him as Speaker, or First Speaker. They wear purple, they are named for it. Wearers of Purple. His name though is Sammaster, called by some Sammaster the Mad."

"Sammaster is dead, he was destroyed over a 100 years ago by a circle of 12 paladins. Every paladin learns that tale"

"Every paladin then learns a lie. They destroyed his body, but that is not enough to destroy a lich. Sammaster lives... after a fashion. His hand is guiding this Rage. He won't admit it, he came here to immunise the Ssvaklors against the Rage, a token gesture of his gratitude for our aid in destabilising the region. He wants the world plunged into chaos, all the better to weaken everyone for when his dracoliches are numerous enough to take over everything!"

"If he won't admit it, then how are you sure that this is true?"

"Because I'm a genius. Think about it, the Cult of the Dragon has been around for centuries, but dragons like life as much as any other creature does. Sammasters followers have always had trouble convincing dragons to trade their flesh and blood and the pleasures of the flesh for immortality. But what if there is a simpler choice, or no choice at all? The Rage drives dragons mad, makes them into berserk beasts. While evil dragons revel in this even they only enjoy it for a short time. Dracoliches though are unaffected by the Rage. Become undead, gain in power and stay sane, or spend your life as a raving monster. The Cult will be swamped with dragons wanting to undergo the ceremony to become a dracolich!"

At the look on Ash's face, Esau chuckled lightly. "I'll help you to stop this city from making any more Megalomen if you and your group get me and mine out of here. Go and tell your friends all that I've told you. We're done now"

Standing and nodding, Ash made his way out of the laboratory (having resumed his snakeman disguise) and headed back towards the rest of the group,

*DM's Notes:*

I'm glad that I took a tape recorder along to this session, else I would never have remembered all of that dialogue. It is a bit paraphrased in parts. I enjoyed this session a lot, no battles this time, but some good debate amongst the party (and some not so clever ideas) and some good roleplay from all of them. Still this was Dan/Ash's moment more than the others and he put up with me striding about the room in full mad genius exposition mode very well indeed. Was fun seeing Gareth/Zamtap and Phil/Aeron grin and all but highfive each other as they figured out the main villain before his name was mentioned.


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## Brakkart

Glad to see that the crash didn't wipe out any of my session logs (just a load of chat posts instead). I've posted the log to session 44 today so I hope you enjoy that. For the record the campaign is currently on about session 63 (I think) and the party are battling their way through a mountain fortress near Hlondeth, fighting Megalomen, Cultists, Dragonkin, Histachii, a Beholder, Yuan-ti and a Dracolich (though not all at once).


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## Imruphel

Great to see you back, Brakkart. BTW, your idea of going to a yuan-ti city in a jungle inspired me to ensure that my one of my next campaigns has a similar adventure included.  

Interestingly, I've just been mulling over the idea that the Cult of the Dragon could offer dracolichdom as "immunisation" against the Rage.


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## Brakkart

Imruphel said:
			
		

> Interestingly, I've just been mulling over the idea that the Cult of the Dragon could offer dracolichdom as "immunisation" against the Rage.




I seriously suggest you pick up the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy by Richard Lee Byers. What you mention here, is pretty much the central villainous plot orchestrated by Sammaster and his followers! Of course Sammaster neglects to mention to the dragons that he is the one causing the Rage!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty Five*

Arriving back at the ruined tower a few hours after setting out to meet Esau, Ash encounters Masembe (lounging in snake form), but is surprised to find the rest of the party absent. The paladin explains his conversation with Esau to the druid, who is highly sceptical and thinks that the invitation is sure to be a trap. Shifting into wolf form, Masembe sets off after the others, following the scent trail of dried blood that clings to Jebodiah as when the others noticed that Ash was missing, they moved campsite.

On entering the partially overgrown ruin of a trade depot, Ash explains his absence of the part few hours to the others, who are just as wary of the plan as the druid, despite the paladin's conviction that this remains their best chance for completing their objectives and getting out of the city alive. Still, it being late, the group agrees to rest for the night and resume their deliberations in the morning.

It is in the early hours as the party sleep that Jebodiah and Masembe on watch notice three large winged shapes flying overhead and descending towards the ruin where they are camped. Ssvaklors! Recognising the threat, Masembe immediately wards himself against poison as Jeb draws his handaxe and bellows a warning which wakes Zamtap and Aeron, Ash having decided to sleep in a room a little distance from the rest of the party. The ground thuds as the three yuan-ti/dragon hybrids land in the rubble strewn streets fore and aft of the building.

Dashing back into the building, Masembe roughly wakes Chand, as the first Ssvaklor engulfs Jebodiah in it's poisonous breath, the spray weakening him. At the rear of the building the other two dragons push their way into the ruin, one heading for the bulk of the party, the other towards a still slumbering Ash! Waving his hands through a series of gestures, Aeron clads himself in Mage Armor as outside in the street Jeb roars and charges the dragon that breathed on him, though the snaky reptile twists out of the way of the blow. Zamtap casts a Neutralise Poison on himself, and Chand invokes a Shield of Faith to bolster his defenses.

At a few words and gestures, Masembe's skin thickens and hardens, becoming like bark as growls of pain can be heard from Jeb as the Ssvaklor tears into him with teeth and claws. Another of the dragons barrels into Zamtap, its teeth easily tearing into the priest, even as the beast ignores the Phantasmal Killer that Aeron sent its way, the genasi wizard gnashing his teeth in annoyance at his spells failure. Outside in the street, Jeb cheers as he scores a single blow on the dragon, it twisting out of the path of his other swings though. Backing away from the Ssvaklor that bit him, Zamtap channels his faith to empower a Cure Critical Wounds spell, patching himself up, as Chand casts Divine Favour on himself and steps into the fray.

From where he is stood, Masembe can see Jebodiah fighting alone and he begins summoning some help for the outmatched dwarf. The Ssvaklors lash out with their bites, sinking teeth into both Chand and Jeb, the dwarf also suffering a further injection of venom into his veins. Casting Telekinesis, Aeron attempts to grapple the Ssvaklor threatening the bulk of the party but fails to do so, while Jeb's handaxe scores another blow on the dragon he is fighting but barely doing enough damage to make the reptile notice the strike. Stepping to his possessions, Zamtap picks up his shield and his dragonbane warhammer and grimly moves back into melee to flank the beast fighting Chand, distracting the dragon long enough for Chand to hit it twice with his mace. Elsewhere in the ruined building, the third Ssvaklor grins as it finds the sleeping form of Ash, the paladins head vanishing in a spray of blood as jaws sever it from the body!

Out in the street a brown bear appears and attacks the Ssvaklor, but it cannot score a hit on the dragon. Still it draws the beasts attention long enough for Masembe to run up behind Jebodiah and cast Neutralise Poison on the dwarf. Unfortunately fro the druid, his chanting draws the Ssvaklor's attention to him and the dragon moves quickly and snaps its jaws shut on him. Back inside, Chand is raked with claws and bitten by the Ssvaklor there, as it again fights free of Aeron's attempt to pin it with telekinesis. Swinging wildly, Jebodiah misses twice and is then all but staggered as he feels a mental shout echo through him of "*WIELD ME NOW!!*" as Stormcleaver, so long slumbering is finally woken by the plight and bravado of his wielder, the axe's full powers emerging. Casting Divine Favour on himself, Zamtap moves into melee with the Ssvaklor, again flanking and distracting it for Chand to get in a couple good blows with his mace. Elsewhere, the third Ssvaklor gathers up the paladins corpse and backpack in its mouth and makes its exit, not wishing to share its meal and trophies with the other two dragons.

Seeing that his bear needs a boost, Masembe enchants it with Magic Fang, the magic allowing the bear to rip into the Ssvaklor with both claws and its bite. Jebodiah and Zamtap are both bitten and clawed badly. Aeron all but punches the air though, as he finally grabs hold and pins the Ssvaklor with his magic. Heeding his axe's advice, Jebodiah backs up a step, drops his handaxe and shield and draws Stormcleaver. Grinning at the dragon in front of him, he lets his fury spill over into a battle frenzy roaring "*Come to my axe dragon!*". Inside, with the Ssvaklor held down by Aeron's spell, both Chand and Zamtap rain a pair of brutal blows down on the trapped lizard.

Smiling, Masembe casts Cure Serious Wounds on Jebodiah and then backs away a few steps, as the bear rakes its claws twice into the dragon and grabs it in a bearhug, though it cannot hold it for long as both Ssvaklors break the holds on them, Aeron trying in vain to reestablish the grip his telekinesis briefly held on the reptile. Bellowing a war cry Jebodiah hews into the Ssvaklor in the street, hacking three gashes through its armoured hide and badly wounding the dragon. Focusing his concentration, Zamtap cast a Cure Critical Wounds on himself, even as Chand drew the Ssvaklor's attention by bashing it again with his mace.

As the bear clawed the Ssvaklor again, Masembe took another step back away from Jebodiah and began summoning anew. While Jeb suffers more rakes of the dragons claws and teeth as he battles it, Chand is dropped by the extent of his wounds. Aeron agai tries but narrowly fails to pin the Ssvaklor inside, though everyone is shaken then by the boom of a thunderclap, as Stormcleaver is used to brutally hack apart the Ssvaklor in the street, blood and entrails flying everywhere as the enraged barbarian disembowels the beast. Inside, Zamtap crouched and laid a hand on chand to deliver a Cure Serious Wounds spell to the Mystran priest, he then getting up and whacking the Ssvaklor looming over the pair of them again.

An ape appears then in the space between Masembe and Jebodiah, the druid summoning a living shield to protect him from the dwarf should he turn his killing rage towards the druid, though he watches as Jebodiah strides indoors towards the other Ssvaklor. Chand is clawed and Zamtap bitten, as the badly wounded dragon lashes out at its tormentors, wanting to put both down quickly so that it might get away. Any chance it had at doing so though is swiftly ended, as Aeron succeeds in regrappling the beast and Zamtap's warhammer finishes it off, caving in its head. Seeing Jebodiah advancing towards the party then with murderous intent and an axe dripping gore in hand, Chand hastily chants and casts a Calm Emotions on the dwarf to pacify him, his mind returning to normal.

*DM's Notes:*

This was a very fun session to run. Dan had decided that he no longer wished to be a part of the campaign (he kept his reasons to himself), so his character got munched which (I think) added to the drama of the battle. Ssvaklor's (from Monster Manual III) are great monsters and as you can see they gave the party a hell of a good fight.

When I created Stormcleaver I made it with 2 sets of stats. The regular set was that of a +1 thundering dwarven waraxe with an intelligence. That intelligence was asleep and would require something to awaken it. That something was met in this fight when Jebodiah attacked a foe more powerful than himself in single combat (he didn't know Masembe was going to come to aid him, the druid had just headed inside after all). Once awake, Stormcleaver is a +3 thundering dwarf waraxe with a couple powers granted by its intelligence (most notably a +10 bonus on Intimidate checks!).

One of the things I wanted to do in this campaign was to give each character a "signature weapon", basically a weapon that could be synonomous with the character themself and one that they would be far more likely to upgrade than to replace. I like the idea of a hero keeping with the same weapon throughout their career and wanted to see if I could get that to work. Stormcleaver is clearly Jebodiah's signature weapon, just as the Dragonbane Warhammer is Zamtap's.


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## Fraggleonacid

> The Ssvaklors lash out with their bits




So Ssvaklors get a 'bits slap' attack as well eh?


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## Imruphel

Brakkart said:
			
		

> I seriously suggest you pick up the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy by Richard Lee Byers. what you mention here, is pretty much the central villainous plot orchestrated by Sammaster and his followers! course Sammaster neglects to mention to the dragons that he is one causing the Rage!




Thanks for the suggestion... but I'm essentially swearing off FR novels. Strangely enough, I actually don't like fantasy novels (with few exceptions) but with the FR novels the problem is that I find that they "disturb" my vision for "my" Realms. Any RSEs in my campaign after the baseline of the FRCS are going to those of my own design (unless WotC comes up with something too good to ignore... and backed by a well-written regional sourcebook).

I really enjoyed the latest update. I must ensure that ssvaklors appear in my next campaign!

I've also been thinking about doing something similar to what you've done with Stormcleaver. Inspired by _Weapons of Legacy_, I'm going to have lower-powered magic weapons (and possibly other magic items) like _+1 longswords_ that have some sort of "omen" when wielded that provide a hint that all is not as it seems.

A clever PC should then seek out sages, bards, diviners etc... to find out what actions are required to awaken the other powers of the weapon. Of course, the awakening of those other powers is also contingent upon the wielder being of a certain level.

Anyway, _Weapons of Legacy_ provided much of the inspiration for this but I didn't like a lot of the mechanical penalties that WoL requires.


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## Brakkart

Yeah I did browse Weapons of Legacy in my FLGS, but it  just didn't appeal to me. I figured the way I'd handled the axe needing to be woken up was far better than the rules heavy way WotC's book provided.

As for RSE's, some I allow into my Realms, others I alter. Lolth's Silence in my Realms did not result in a seperate Demonweb Pits plane for example. I regard the Cosmology chapter as the only wasted space in the FRCS. I stick with the Great Wheel, a tried and true cosmology of the Outer Planes. Lolth's Silence was a result of her basically scrapping the Demonweb Pits and remaking them (and herself) in a new image. In the process of doing this, she expelled all the other drow deities from the 66th layer of the Abyss, making it solely HER realm.


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## Brakkart

Fraggleonacid said:
			
		

> So Ssvaklors get a 'bits slap' attack as well eh?




Mock not the DM's typing skills!


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## Imruphel

Howdy Brakkart,

Any chance of an update... pretty please?


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty Six*

Having slain two of the three Ssvaklors, the party spent a few moments seeing to their numerous wounds, before setting off through the ruined depot to seek out the third one, none of them having seen it fly off. What they found instead was a blood smeared site where Ash had been sleeping, but no sign of their paladin or his pack. Crouching down. Masembe poked a finger into the blood and licked it, pronouncing it to be human. the sheer amount of blood on the floor told them all they needed to know.

Aeron is quite upset that the paladin's gear is missing, especially the Hat of Disguise that Ash had possessed. With Ash dead and gone, the group move their campsite to a nearby building, before bedding back down for what remains of the night.

Nightal 22nd dawns, a light rain soaking the ruined city (and the party). Despite their misgivings about Ash's intended plan, none of the group have any beter ideas, and so, perhaps in honour of their fallen comrade, they decide to go ahead and meet with Esau Enoch. Aeron casts Seeming on the group while Masembe shifts into snake form and drapes himself around Jebodiah's shoulders, as well as casting Tongues on himself. Aeron makes sure to make himself look like the image of the Yuan-ti Ash had disguised himself as, and the group head through the streets towards Esau's laboratory.

On arriving there, they linger on the ground floor until Esau and Domino make their daily appearance on the lower level to talk to their underling scientists and are then invited upstairs. There seated comfortably in Esau's well appointed study, they learn that the renegade genius has devised a way to destroy his work:

"A binary liquid, quite clever of me if I do say so myself"

"How do you mean binary liquid?" asked Aeron.

"Quite simply that, a solution that I have devised and had in prepartion for some time now."

"What does it do?" queried Zamtap.

"The liquid that circulates in the cloning tanks now is a complex mixture of venoms, acids, quicksilver..."

"Yes we know all that from your journal and from what Broca House were stealing back in Baldur's Gate" growled Aeron, "Get to the point".

"Anyway... I've devised a solution to add to that existing mixture to destabilise it. It will make the liquid highly corrosive, which will destroy the clones currently in the cylinders as well as born it's way through the glass tubes they grow in".

"What about the other apparatus, the tubes can be replaced. We need to ensure that this place never produces any more of your Megalomen" Zamtap stated bluntly.

Esau grinned broadly, and added nonchalantly "Ohh did I forget to mention that when the combined solution is exposed to the air it will detonate?".

"Detonate?" asked Zamtap, the look on his face warring between caution and delight "How big an explosion will that cause?"

"Big enough to annihilate the laboratories... might even even level this building now that I think on it".

"So what do we do now?" asked Jebodiah.

"I'd suggest casting any spells you need to cast, grabbing your packs and getting ready to head out. We'll walk across the plaza to the temple and then head down to the portal to Hlondeth, fighting our way down if needed. Ahh that's where your talents will be needed" answered Domino.

"Very well, let's get on with this" muttered Masembe.

The party spent a minute or two, shouldering their packs again, and casting various defensive spells on themselves as Chan and Esau added the new solution into the cloning apparatus, before the whole group readied itself and headed downstairs, Aeron asking as they descended to the ground floor of the lab "So, just how long until it all goes kaboom then?"

"A couple minutes give or take" was his nonplussed reply from Esau.

The group drew stares as they walked through the hall at the centre of the downstairs laboratories, but none of Esau's subordinates questioned why he was leaving the building, their glares mostly reserved for the snakemen with their leader, a firm look of "Who are they and why do they rate his personal attention?" written large on their envious faces.

Outside though was another matter, the group had barely gone more than forty feet from the doorway to the laboratory before a deep voice boomed out, it coming from the throat of a red and blue giant of a Yuan-ti, this one standing nearly nine feet in height and with a tail ending in a distinctive rattle.

"Esau Enoch, you are under house arrest and know this, return to your laboratory at once"

"Well it was worth a try" smiled Esau, stepping closer to Domino. "Come my dear, let us be gone". And with that Domino, Esau and Chan vanished, Aeron recognising the effect as a teleportation spell and the whole group immediately realising that they've been set up and that Esau could have escaped at any time. Not bothering to try and talk his way out of things, Aeron chants and casts a Hold Person spell at the giant snakeman (Rattlor) who issued the challenge, but it has no effect on him. Masembe slithers off Jebodiah's shoulders and starts casting.

Several more snakemen begin moving towards the group to back up Rattlor, one with a flared cobra-like head (Kobra Khan) moving towards Aeron. Zamtap chants a Prayer to bolster the party and hinder Rattlor and then heads towards the temple, Jebodiah moving with him even as Aeron calls out "Don't go too far from me!", but too late, the pair leaving the Seeming spell's area of effect and resuming their normal appearances. Another snakeman with long arms (Sssqueeze) casts Divine Power on himself and moves towards Zamtap, while another, long tongue flicking about his face (Tung Lashor) casts Cat's Grace on himself. Rattlor charges Chand but misses his swipe at the cleric, as Aeron enchants himself with an Expeditious Retreat spell and moves, using the standing stones along one side of the plaza as cover. Running towards Jebodiah, yet another snakeman screams "Look at me!" as his head comes alive with writhing snakes (Snake Face), but he fails to petrify the dwarf. Chand casts Righteous Might on himself, even as Masembe summons a brown bear to molest Ratlor, the bear's claws gouging the giant Yuan-ti.

Kobra Khan spits venom at Chand but misses him. Zamtap casts Spiritual Weapon and sends the glowing warhammer to attack Snake Face, but the medusa-like Yuan-ti easily dodges it. Jebodiah roars and charges Snake Face, his axe cutting into the snakeman. Sssqueeze moves closer and stretches out one arm to an impressive 15' touching Snake Face and healing his wounds with a Cure Serious Wounds spell.Tung Lashor runs towards Snake Face to aid him in fighting the dwarf. Rattlor attacks Chand but fails to hit the armour plated cleric with either his sword, bite or tail. Aeron sends a Phantasmal Killer at Kobra, but the Yuan-ti laughs off the spell, much to the genasi wizards annoyance. Snake Face takes a step back from Jebodiah and stares again, the dwarf ducking his face behind his shield just in time. Chand steps up and whacks Rattlor twice with his mace, the bear clawing the giant snakeman. A short distance away, Masembe starts summoning again.

*DM's Notes:*

Every once in a while it is nice to give the party exactly what they expect. Especially just after they've convinced themselves that their initial thoughts were wrong. So Esau betrayed them and now they have to fight their way out of Ss'inthee'ssaree. Knowing my players, I don't think they'd really want it any other way!

One of the things that inspired this whole campaign was the modern Masters of the Universe cartoon, in particular the first season episode Snake Pit and the bulk of the second season which featured the Snakemen. The party are fighting 5 of them now (they'll meet King Hsss at a later date as he's too high powered for this fight). This battle is resolved in the next session.


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## Deuce Traveler

Thanks Brak!


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## pizzaboy_15

Great Stuff. Keep it up


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## Imruphel

Hi Brakkart,

Any chance of an update... pretty please?


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## Fraggleonacid

Just to whet the appetite, to come (I'm hoping anyway) we have :

1. Some slapping of snake tail.
2. A mad dash through the temple pyramid featuring the party's limited trap finding skills
3. The "if we're not in Kansas where in Faerun are we?" moment.
4. When in Calimsham...shop!
5. Trouble comes looking for us, and it has wings on.
6. Some breaking, entering and arguing.
7. Somebody tries to scare us, but discovers that we just don't have the imagination...
8. A new way (for us at least) of breaking in to the bad guys lair: ask politely.
9. Some epic scraps, some party deaths
10. More trap finding skills in evidence.
11. We came, we beheld, it died.
12. Attack of Deja Vu, or to quote Serious Sam "Didn't we kick your ass two rooms back?"
13. More new faces
14. You are at minus how many hit points!?
15. Okay, thats one big dead dragon, and whooo look at that pile of treasure, who's got the bags of hoarding?
16. Roll credits

The Party With No Name part 2 is currently in production...

Any chance of filling in the detail Brakkart?

Respectfully,

Masambe's ghost


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## Brakkart

Heh nice summary of the rest of the campaign mate. I have Sunday off work, so I'll do my best to get a few sessions typed up then. I have all the notes from the rest of the campaign clipped in a document holder beside my monitor on my desk, looking at me as I type this. About time I posted some more logs.

As the Fragglish one touched on, the Rise of the Snakemen campaign did in fact end at session 69. I was going to run a new campaign from scratch then (one of the Dungeon Adventure Paths possibly or a FR campaign set around the Moonsea area perhaps) . However, my players decided otherwise, all of them being very much in favour of continuing with their existing characters and giving high level play a run for its money.

So the new campaign is called: The Party With No Name Versus...  The general idea being that I will run them through some adventure modules from Dungeon until they reach the low epic levels (or they all get killed, whichever happens first). So with that plan in hand, a few weeks back they started on the Prison of the Firebringer module. No-one's got killed yet (though the Selskar Watchghosts almost got Chand!), but then they haven't entered The Dungeon of the Ruins yet... that's for tonights session.


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## Imruphel

Waiting patiently... but enthusiastically....


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## Son_Of_Sparda

*twiddles thumbs*


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty Seven*

Ducking in behind Chand, Kobra Khan viciously stabs the priest while he is distracted by fighting Rattlor. Grinning, Zamtap conjures a Wall of Stone and wraps it into a box around Sssqueeze, trapping the long-limbed snakeman within. After a moment spent considering his options, the encased yuan-ti starts summoning an Earth Mephit. Tung Lashor charges Jebodiah, but the dwarf ducks under the lash of the snakemans extrodinary whip-like tongue. As Chand turns to address the threat posed by Kobra Khan, so Rattlor slashes him twice, the priest stepping back and smashing his mace into Kobra. Aeron casts a Gedlee's Loop on Rattlor, shocking the big yuan-ti but failing to stun him, as across the plaza Snake Face gazes at Jebodiah, the dwarf just too slow this time and he is instantly turned to stone! As the brown bear claws Rattlor, so another appears to attack Snake Face, though its swipe misses. Masembe shapeshifts into Dire Ape form and advances towards Kobra Khan.

Kobra turns and tries to run, but is bashed to the floor and knocked out by Chand as he does. Zamtap invokes a Cold Energy Vortex to wound Snake Face, Tung Lashor and the bear fighting them. An Earth Mephit appears inside Sssqueeze's stone prison, and turns one side of the box into clay, the snakeman, then punching his way free. As Tung Lashor moves towards the Temple doors to block the party's escape route, so Rattlor's giant scimitar cuts Chand down. Glaring at the obstacle in their way, Aeron blasts a Scintillating Sphere at the temple entrance, badly hurting Tung Lashor and wiping out the group of Ophidians standing guard there. Snake Face flees across the plaza from the nearby bear, as Masembe reaches the fallen chand and casts Cure Light Wounds to stabilise him. A bear claws into Rattlor and then traps the big yuan-ti in a bearhug. The other bear meanwhile claws Sssqueeze twice and then grapples him.

As Zamtap heads towards chand, so his Spiritual Warhammer flies after Snake Face and bludgeons the fleeing snakeman to death. Sssqueeze exudes acid from his skin, badly wounding the bear holding him, as Tung races across and attacks that bear also, working to try and free his comrade. Rattlor does likewise, his skin secreting acid to burn the bear holding him, even as Aeron blasts him with Magic Missiles. The bear holding Sssqueeze crushes him some more in its grasp, though Rattlor manages to avid the same fate, but he can't dodge Masembe's claws!

On the ground, Kobra Khans last lifeblood seeps out, the snakeman perishing, even as Zamtap touches chand with a sudden empowered cure Critical Wounds, waking him up. His Spiritual Warhammer though misses Tung Lashor, who easily kills the bear holding Sssqueeze captive, the long armed snakeman ducking back inside the stone box for shelter and casting a Cure Critical Wounds on himself. The Earth Mephit flies towards the bear holding Rattlor, which howls as yet more acid is secreted by the big yuan-ti in its grasp. Knowing that the city guards will almost certainly already be on the way and needing to hurry things up, Aeron casts Haste on the rest of the party. Getting up, Chand swings his mace and finishes off Rattlor. Freed of the need to hold the large snakeman, the bear instead rips apart the Earth Mephit. Masembe bounds across to attack Tung Lashor, clawing into him.

Distracted by the Dire Ape form of Masembe, Tung Lashor gets bashed in the back of the head by Zamtap's Spirtual Warhammer, as the priest himself moves up behind the druid. Sssqueeze stretches out an arm and touches Zamtap with a Slay Living spell, but the Gondite shrugs the effect off, and Chand smashes into Sssqueeze then, beating the snakeman to death with his mace. Tung Lashor, simply turns and flees!

With the fight won, the party swiftly go through the belongings of the snakemen, Aeron finding a scroll of Stone To Flesh on Kobra's body and using it to restore Jebodiah, even as the others grab the bodies of Kobra, Rattlor and Ssqueeze and drag them into the temple entrance...

*DM's Notes:*

Not a bad fight all in all, though Tung and Sssqueeze were not as effective as I'd hoped. The scroll I placed deliberately as it stood to reason that the snakemen would carry some form of contingency in case one of them ever got caught in the effect of Snake Face's formidible gaze. Now all the group have to do is battle their way down through a snakeman infested temple/dungeon to get to that portal!


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## Brakkart

*DM's Log of Session Forty Eight*

The party run into the temple and dump the bodies, all of them lending a shoulder to shove closed the temples stone doors, Zamtap then sealing them with a Stone Shape spell. The group quickly grab a few small items from the corpses and whatever valuables they can find, and then head into the temples interior, walking into the main chamber for worship where a halfblood cleric is giving a sermon to an audience of halfbloods and ophidians. Stood by the altar though, cloaked in a greater invisibility and sphere of unvulnerability is the wizardess Hereth who the party battled a few days previously.

Hereth further bolsters her defences with a Stoneskin spell, and the High Priest casts a Protection From Good on himself, pointing at the interlopers and hissing "Kill them!". All the Halfbloods draw their scimitars and advance towards Jebodiah and Chand, as the Ophidians draw swords and shields and form a line of defense around the High Priest himself. Masembe immediately starts summoning, realising that the group are going to need reinforcements and quickly! Aeron casts an extended Haste on the party, as Jebodiah wastes no time in getting stuck into the foe, hacking into a halfblood, he being bolstered by a Protection From Evil cast on him by Zamtap. Chand drives his mace into the chest of another halfblood, shattering its ribs and killing the yuan-ti instantly.

Hereth blasts the group with a Fireball, injuring Chand,. Zamtap and Jebodiah, but killing the halfblood who was caught in the blast too, as the High Priest drops a Flame Strike on the party further bathing them in fire. A crocodile appears but misses an Ophidian with its bite, and Masembe starts summoning again. Aeron sighs and sends a Scintillating Sphere into the High Priest, injuring him and wiping out five of the Ophidians gathered around him, clearing the way for Jebodiah to charge into him, his axe leading the way! Chand's mace brutally dispatches another Ophidian, and yet another of them advances and slashes at Aeron, the wizard narrowly sidestepping the scimitar, as Zamtap steps in to defend the genasi, smacking his hammer into the Ophidian.

The High Priest steps back and casts Hold Person at Jebodiah, though the spell fails to paralyse the mighty dwarf. Hereth sends a Phantasmal Killer at Aeron, but the spell only wounds him. Another crocodile appears, and both of the big lizards bite into their respective foes, an Ophian and the High Priest.. Still in Dire Ape form, Masembe rips into another Ophidian, tearing it apart with its claws, and drenching Zamtap and Aeron with its blood in the process! Wiping the blood from his eyes, Aeron grins and blasts the High Priest to death with a volley of Magic Missiles. Chand casts Invisibility Purge, which reveals Hereths position beside the altar. Seeing her appear, Jebodiah marches towards her and attacks, his axe barely managing to scratch her, much to his amazement! Zamtap casts Spirtual Weapon, but his conjured warhammer has no effect on Hereth at all.

Hereth grabs her Rod of Enlargement and fills the temple with a huge fireball, severely burning Jebodiah and one of the crocodiles, though not without the dwarf chipping her with his axe in retaliation. Both crocodiles mkove towards Hereth, as Masembe moves towards the doorway the group need to head through to get down to the next level, opening it. Aeron focuses a Dispel Magic on Hereth, negating both her Mage Armor and Stoneskin spells, Jeb then hacking her into chunks! Zamtap casts a Detect Magic and the group grab whatever is glowing off the bodies of the High Priest and Hereth.

Masembe, Zamtap and Chand see to Jebodiahs and their own wounds, the Gondite also taking a moment to reload his pistol, as the group head out of the chamber and to the stairs. Aeron turns and seals the door behind them with a Hold Portal, though he mentions that it won't hold back the yuan-ti for once once they get through the main temple doors.

Heading down to the first basement level of the temple, the group waste a few minutes while Masembe tries to remember the correct route to take to reach the next set of stairs, the tunnels twisting and turning. Whilst walking down a long straight corridor once he is sure of the proper path to take, the group get run over by a giant rolling ball of stone, the trap badly hurting Chand and injuring both Aeron and Jebodiah. Still they reach the stairs down to the second basement level without further incident.

*DM's Notes:*

I enjoyed this session, it was very much a close quarters battle in the temple, and the group got the rematch they wanted with Hereth who had eluded them the last time they fought. No such luck for her this time! As for the trap... ehh I love the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark, so I just had to fit that rolling ball in somehow. 

The maps I'm using for the temple, are adapted from the maps for the top 5 levels of the huge pyramid from the old module B4 The Lost City, though I'm using them in reverse order (going from the largest to the smallest heading downward). I'm a big fan of cannibalising stuff from anywhere, and have used that tactic many times during the course of this campaign.


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## pizzaboy_15

*Yeah!*

Wooo!
Can't wait for the next installment!
Keep em' coming!


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## Imruphel

Cool, my patience has been rewarded... and now time for another reward!


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## Deuce Traveler

Awesome!


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## pizzaboy_15

We can't wait, just hoping that Bob has the time to write one for the loving readers!!!
<i>Please <b>Bob</b> Can I have some more?</i>


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## Brakkart

*The Quotes!*

Okay I'm doubtful if I'm ever going to get around to finishing this Story Hour. I have all the notes to do so, I just never seem to have the time to type them up and expand on them these days. So I'm going to post the quotes page, which I always promised my players I'd post at the end of this story.

The idea of the quotes page is I keep a sheet of paper and write down on it anything daft that a player or character says, anything that made us all laugh out loud or else do a "Huh?" moment. So without further ado, here we go:

The Character Quotes:

*Aeron*: This isn't called The Sword Coast because it's a nice place to live.
*Geven*: Welcome back to the land of the living... again.
*Aeron*: We don't know what cleric he's a deity of.
*Zamtap*: I think I'm drinking a Cure Moderate Wounds Poison.
*Zamtap*: We're in the jungle... everything's poisonous!
*Zamtap*: How difficult can it be to touch you in the mouth?
*Zamtap*: How can we tell how thick the dwarf is? DOOR! I meant door!

The Player Quotes:

*Matt*: We're just all going to have to get a bit more comfortable with each other.
*Dan*: I won't be here next week, I'll be in Bournemouth at a strip club.
*Random Gamer*: Blind comedians still change colour to match their surroundings.
*Tony*: I move up 20' and cast Divine Thingy.
*Matt*: I think we should do some friendly fights to the death.
*Alastair*: We're a well organised party really, all of our front line guys are short so we can cast spells over the top of them.
*Alastair*: A new euphemism for being mad - One encounter short of a level?
*Jason*: What's so bad about Hellgate Keep?
*Robert/Me*: I'll be merciful on account of the fact you just died.
*John*: Perspective is the fighters worst enemy.


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## GrandArchon

What?! You have Serpent Kingdom, but yet no Weresnakes?! Blashpemy! I demand lycanthropy! Though I guess at these levels it must be rather easy to cure/prevent. Not to say you couldn't try.


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## Brakkart

I can honestly say that I've never found the Weresnake to be that great a monster. Course that might have something to do with it having such an atrocious piece of art in the Serpent Kingdoms book, as well as "Don't turn into a giant snake... it never helps" being on the Evil Overlord list of things not to do. Not a creature I've ever had any desire to use in one of my campaigns.


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