CHRONICLE VAULT 20080221, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Readying 10, 595 CY
Slightly disorientated from the deluge of information from the noble salamander Antyress Redpike, and certainly still nursing wounds from the fight against the black dragon, the heroes decided to rest in the chamber of pillars. The knowledge that they were in the tomb of a fallen Wind Duke of Aaqa weighed heavily on their minds and they were determined more than ever to find Allustan.
The elf monk Kaspar kept a silent vigil during the rest period as he always did. As the rest of the party awoke, Argo spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A gigantic spider phased into existence behind Kaspar, grasped him in its front legs, then winked out of existence! Everyone saw the elf monk get taken by the creature, and Duke was able to identify the means of transportation as passing into the Plane of Shadow. Whatever this creature was that took Kaspar it came and went from this other plane of existence.
With little information to go on, the heroes continued to follow the trail of Allustan the Sage hoping that the elf monk's location would be revealed. They passed through a chamber that contained beautiful but strange purple chandeliers and wisely chose not to bother them. They passage leading out sloped downward at a steep angle, descending deeper into the earth beneath the Plains of Pesh.
The chamber at the bottom held three doors - two on either side of the entrance and one in the middle at the end of a short flight of stairs. In the middle of the room the heroes found Kaspar, unconscious and hanging from a strand of purple spider silk. As they approached cautiously the massive spider emerged from the Plane of Shadow.
The spider called itself Flycatcher, and told the companions that in order to free their friend they would need to do something. Beligerent as always, Klaus demanded to know what the spider was talking about. Flycatcher explained that a short time ago a thief came up from the River of Blood and stole the "amulet." If the heroes would kill the thief and return with this item Flycatcher would release Kaspar. The giant spider directed them to the door on the left and then to follow the River of Blood to its end to find the thief. Seeing little other choice the heroes agreed.
Flycatcher returned to the Plane of Shadow, taking Kaspar with him. Argo identified Allustan's footsteps as continuing through the chamber to the center door, and Klaus decided he wanted to find out what was in there. As he approached, Flycatcher's voice demanded that the dwarf not continue. Klaus ignored the voice and tried to open the door. A bolt of lightning struck out from the trap, which he shook off. He tried again and got the same result. A third time produced a third lightning bolt, at which point the dwarf rogue realized that the door seemed to require a special "amulet" sized key. He stalked off with the rest of his companions to the door on the left to the sound of Flycatcher's whispered laughter.
Through the door was a mostly natural cavern, through which a strange river of blood-red water flowed swiftly. A natural bridge of slick stone crossed the river to the other side, where the banks were not so steep. Kong crossed easily enough, along with Argo. Duke started to cross, lost his footing but caught himself before falling and decided a rope would be helpful. He tossed one end of the rope to Argo and tied the other end around his waist. About halfway through the dwarf wizard hit a slick spot and tumbled headfirst into the river. The rocks at the bottom gave him a bit of a jarring, but with the help of Argo and Kong holding the other end of the rope he clambered up to the shore. Klaus walked easily across the river.
The companions were now faced with a difficult situation. Kong could hear that the river continued a short distance down the cavern before coming to a waterfall. None of them were equipped with the water travel capabilities necessary to swim, so Duke suggested he cast fly on himself and spider climb on everyone else to navigate the tunnel. For lack of a better idea they decided on this, but realized they would have to rest so that the wizard could prepare the necessary spells. They rested in the cavern.
After the rest period, Duke cast the requisite spells and they were off. The dwarf wizard, under the effects of the fly spell, had to go ahead of the rest of the party - his spell wore off sooner and gave him a faster movement than the others. He flew ahead and found that the River of Blood did indeed come to a waterfall in a narrow tunnel, which he followed down roughly one hundred and fifty feet to a small lake of blood, which tumbled again over another waterfall down about seventy feet. From there the blood water pooled and exited via some unknown underground exit in a large chamber at the bottom.
As he stood in the chamber alone, Duke caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was a humanoid shape that ducked into one of the crevices of the cave. He lit a light spell but did not get a good look at the person. He decided (wisely) to wait until the rest of his companions arrived before investigating further.
After an hour Argo, Klaus, and Kong arrived climbing along the ceiling. Duke pointed out the stranger in the corner, who stepped forward and lit a strange lamp. The lamp shed green light, and illuminated everyone with glowing faerie fire. The man was of average height and wore a heavy cloak and a greatsword on his back. He approached cautiously.
Duke asked him who he was the man replied that he was Moreto, Marquis of Ravenstone from the White Kingdom. No one had ever heard of this place, and Moreto indicated it was a nation of his own people deep beneath the surface - a kingdom of true ghouls. He shed little other light on the subject other than this. Kong point-blank asked him if he was the one who stole the "amulet" from the spider Flycatcher. At this, Moreto laughed.
He asked if Flycatcher sent them to kill him, and when they confirmed this he replied with a counter-offer - help him kill Flycatcher and he would give them the "amulet" and whatever treasure the shadow spider had accumulated. Moreto explained that the spider was an obstacle in his path towards the surface world, and that the two had reached something of a standstill.
The heroes were unsure of who to trust, and rightfully so. On one hand they had an obviously psychotic shadow spider holding their friend hostage. On the other they had a sinister true ghoul with dubious goals wanting to escape. After much debate they decided to side with Moreto and return up the River of Blood and kill Flycatcher. Unfortunately, Duke needed another rest period in order to get everyone up (though Moreto had his own means - a cloak of the bat).
During the rest period Moreto probed the heroes for information on the surface world. He didn't get much information, but he did reveal that he had uncovered whispered legends amongst his own people about a dark time of writhing decay. He was sent by the ruling body of the White Kingdom to the surface world to determine the validity of these prophecies. The heroes let some information slip about Kyuss and the Age of Worms, which Moreto was greatly interested in - but the conversation ended there. Perhaps for the best.
After the rest period, all of the heroes used the power of the spider climb spell to clambor up the sides of the slick tunnel while Moreto flew up. It was about an hour before the heroes reached the top, and there as they approached Flycatcher's chamber the true ghoul asked about tactics. Still not trusting their new-found ally, the companions were vague, talking of "charging" and "staying prepared." This seemed to worry Moreto.
Eventually they reached the door across the ledge, and Moreto positioned himself amidst the party near the rear. Kong kicked down the door, and the true ghoul's strange green lantern illuminated Flycatcher despite him not being on this plane. The barbarian gave a mighty yell and charged, and managed to hit the shadow spider on the Plane of Shadow. Klaus moved into a flanking position on the other side of Flycatcher and Argo drew his daggers. Moreto drew his flaming greatsword and approached as well.
After the initial attack, the shadow spider phased into this plane and flew into a berserker rage upon spotting Moreto. Flycatcher was not to be reasoned with as he brought all of his attacks to bear against his opponents. However, given the element of surprise and a good deal of luck, the heroes managed to drop the shadow spider with the barest hint of a threat. The spider curled up, dead, and Moreto stabbed the creature repeatededly for good measure. He helped very little during the battle.
Afterwards, Moreto thanked the heroes and held up his end of the bargain. He tossed to the ground the "amulet" which they discovered was actually a disc of blue crystal about six inches in diameter engraved with runes. Moreto then took his leave and the companions watched him go.
After a thorough search Klaus found the unconscious Kaspar in the adjoining chamber. They dragged him out as they tried to figure out what to do. When Klaus picked up the seal left by the true ghoul he was suddenly surrounded by four djinni, who demanded he put down the Seal of Law. The dwarf did, and the djinni disappeared after a minute. Curious to see what would happen, Argo picked up the seal - and found himself surrounded by four invisible stalkers, which disappeared when he dropped the object. Duke decided to try his luck, and was suddenly surrounded by four greater air elementals that disappeared after he dropped it. Kong thought it best not to try his luck.
The conversation then turned as to how to get the seal to the door, which was the way that Allustan had went. Eventually they settled on a Tenser's floating disc to carry the seal to the doorway, which worked. The chamber beyond was a shrine of some sort dedicated to the Wind Duke general Icosiol, with a single exit that Allustan had taken. It was unlocked so Klaus opened it.
On the other side was a strange sight indeed. A large metal spike protruded from the ceiling and terminated at the apex of a ball of electrical energy. Inside this globe was the unconscious form of Allustan. Their goal finally within their grasp, Klaus boldly stepped forward - and quickly dodged the bolt of lightning that shot out from the metal spike. Every six seconds another bolt of lightning shot out, but luckily Klaus was very nimble and was under Duke's elemental protection spell. His ducking and dodging brought him back to the entrance.
The heroes decided to attack the metal spike, with Duke volunteering since no one else had enough ranged firepower to damage the thing. It took the better part of an hour, but through judicious use of the acid splash spell the dwarf wizard finally destroyed the metal spike. The lightning globe shattered, sending Allustan tumbling to the ground. Everyone rushed forward and found that the sage was bleeding profusely.
Argo shared a healing potion with Allustan, who awoke in a shock. He greeted the heroes warmly and asked what they were doing here. When confronted with confused looks, the sage explained that he had just found this chamber with the metal spike not a few minutes ago. Duke recognized the signs of a temporal stasis spell and informed Allustan that he was stuck in the globe for at least a week based on what they had heard in Diamond Lake.
Allustan was slightly confused but recovered quickly. When they told him about Eligos' findings and that they were sent to find Malakara the Mad Mage, the sage's countenance grew dark. He admitted that Malakara was probably the best course of action, but that the elderly wizard had a chaotic temperance. Neither Eligos nor Allustan had spoken or had any dealings with the Mad Mage for quite some time, but he told him where to find the reclusive man. Along the barren southern shore of the Nyr Dyv (the Lake of Unknown Depths) there was a peninsula called Point Hollow. There a raging storm of metal encircled Malakara's crystal tower. It was roughly 150 miles up the coast from Elmshire.
Duke gave Allustan Eligos' notes along with a copy of the Apostolic Scrolls, and the sage encouraged the heroes to finish exploring Icosiol's tomb. If the Age of Worms were really approaching it would be helpful to have as many tools at their disposal as they could, and certainly even just a portion of the Rod of Seven Parts could be helpful. He told them that he would return to Diamond Lake and study up on what Eligos had sent, after which the heroes could bring it to Malakara.
It was at that point that Duke brought up the dragon. Allustan was visibly upset when they told him that the black dragon had attacked Diamond Lake searching for the sage, and that the sage's home was one of those that were destroyed. Many of the townsfolk had died but the heroes drove the dragon away at the entrance to the Whispering Cairn. Allustan recovered quickly and told the companions to meet him at the inn back in Diamond Lake once they were complete. The sage also informed them the command word for the Seal of Law so that they could handle it without summoning angry elementals.
The heroes were seemingly at an impass. Klaus felt pretty confident in his searching skills, and hadn't found anything unusual or hidden so far in the tomb. The one area so far as yet unsearched was the River of Blood's cascading waterfalls. They decided to take a quick pass over the area and see what they could find. Duke took the Seal of Law.
Lo and behold, behind the second waterfall, the Seal of Law illuminated a secret door in the rock face which opened mysteriously when they approached. Beyond was a long narrow passage, and it ended at a set of massive adamantine-laid granite double doors. Like before the Seal of Law glowed brightly when brought forth and the doors swung open. The chamber beyond the doors was unlike any they had seen before.
The ceiling was easily sixty feet high and lit by elongated metal lanterns that glowed with the colors of the rainbow. A white marble sarcophagus floated in the air at the end of the room, ten feet off the floor, and the heroes could make out the image of Icosiol, Wind Duke of Aaqa, upon the sarcophagus' bottom. The walls of the chamber were carved to depict a funeral procession that wound up in a spiral, showing Wind Dukes, djinni, air elementsl, and other elemental servants of law in mourning as they attended the body of a fallen general. After the first spiral, the upper sections showed the general's ascension into a primal vortex of wind and thunder.
The heroes approached with reverence to the sarcophagus, knowing that they were standing before the final resting place of the bearer of the Staff of Law. With Kong's help, Argo scrambled up to the top and found a spot to fit the Seal of Law. Snapping it into place, the sarcophagus slowly floated to the ground and opened gently. Inside were the moldering physical remains of Icosiol along with his most prized possessions.
The swords born by the Wind Duke were known as the sword of Aaqa and the lightning sword. When Argo picked them up, he felt a momentary rush of anger, then contentment and a sense of wonder. The weapons resized to fit his halfling hands.
Also amongst Icosiol's possessions was the ring of the wind dukes, which Duke claimed. The final artifact in the sarcophagus was perhaps the most valuable. It was the seventh segment to the fabled Rod of Seven Parts, a weapon and a tool of great power. They took the fragment, for its powers alone would be helpful to their goal.
The heroes exited the tomb of Icosiol on Readying 10. A cold wind and flurries greeted their arrival, with their next goal in mind - to meet with Malakara the Mad Mage.
Session Updates
Alright, start as usual around 7 pm tomorrow. Nothing else to update here.
Quest Cards Completed
* Return to Allustan with Eligos' Notes
* Rescue Allustan
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Speak with Malakara the Mad Mage
* Recover Rod of Seven Parts (Optional)
XP Recap
10th-level Character 12,000 XP
11th-level Characters 8,000 XP
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Age of Worms Campaign Update 2/7/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20080207, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Readying 7, 595 CY
The Champion's Game of the City of Greyhawk ended on Fireseek 22, with the Kings of the Road being declared the champions. This year's games did nto go as smoothly as previous years, however, what with the appearance of the Apostle of Kyuss - an ulgurstasta of immense proportions - during the final match. But the heroes prevailed and were treated like - well, like kings.
Following the discovery of Eligos' murdered body on Fireseek 23, the heroes felt that things were not quite over as far as Kyuss and the Age of Worms was concerned. But for the time being the Free City treated them celebrities. Lord Mayor Nerof Gasgal invited them to dinner on Fireseek 24, where he secretly thanked the companions for bringing him the list of officials who had been replaced by dopplegangers. With their well-earned money, the heroes hit the town hard, shopping for new magical toys to upgrade or replace existing ones.
But the death of Eligos gnawed at them, and the knowledge that their actions may have brought upon the sage's death weighed heavily upon all of them. Duke suggested that they pool their resources together and pay to have Eligos resurrected. It was agreed, and they brought the high-ranking priest of Pelor to where the city was storing the sage's body. On Fireseek 26, Eligos the Sage was brought back to the world of the living.
He was disoriented to be sure, but when asked about the note he was writing he was quick to explain. Both Eligos and Allustan were once apprentices to the same master, the legendary wizard Malakara the Mad. Most of the heroes had heard this name, though usually in conjunction with fantastic stories of magic and adventure that have surely become exaggerated tales over the years. Nonetheless, the Mad Mage should be alerted to this information about the Age of Worms - it is possible he even knows more about what's going on.
Unfortunately, Eligos and Malakara had a bit of a falling out, the details of which the sage was not willing to go into. But Allustan was always on better terms with the old wizard, and he should know of the Mad Mage's current location. Eligos returned home to recuperate, and then told the heroes that they should probably get out of town quickly. He was, and made arrangements to leave Greyhawk the next day.
The heroes did their best to keep a low profile while they waited for orders to be fulfilled. Kong had a custom suit of magical armor made, Argo ordered a pair of magical daggers to augment his already impressive skills, and Kaspar kept mostly to himself. Duke worked on scribing scrolls while Klaus busied himself with finding the Thieves' Guild of the city. He was unsuccessful.
All of the equipment was ready to go by Readying 2 and they prepared to leave the very same day. With Duke's caravan, it was agreed that Klaus and Kaspar would ride with the dwarf wizard while Argo rode his dire badger companion Bacon and Kong rode a horse. Then the barbarian saw something catch his eye on the way to the stables. It was a yak, and the image of the proud Kong sitting astride such a powerful beast was one that he couldn't pass up. He offered the keeper of the yak several hundred gold for the beast, which the peasant man was only to happy to take.
So, caravan, badger, and yak left the Free City of Greyhawk on Readying 2 bound for Diamond Lake, the home of Allustan. It was a four day journey, and the mid-winter winds whipped furiously about them. The region around Greyhawk and the Cairn Hills did not get much snow, but they saw a few flakes here and there along the road. Mainly it was just the biting wind.
On Readying 6 the heroes arrived in Diamond Lake, and immediately they knew something was wrong. Not a soul could they see on the roads of the mining town, and a few of the buildings seemed destroyed - almost melted. As they rode through the main street, a few of the townsfolk rushed up to greet them. They asked if they had seen the dragon that attacked the town just a few days ago. It was black dragon, who was demanding Allustan be brought before him. The sage's home was destroyed, along with a few adjacent buildings, and many people were killed before someone finally mentioned that Allustan was last seen a few miles away in one of the many old caves that dotted the area. Called the Whispering Cairn by the locals, it was a site that the sage had been spending quite a bit of time at recently. The black dragon flew away to that location, leaving the citizens of Diamond Lake to cower in fear.
The heroes immediately set out for the Whispering Cairn. It was possible that this dragon was Ilthane herself, perhaps seeking Allustan for his involvement in the destruction of the clutch of eggs in the Twisted Branch tribe. It was a short journey to the site, and they left their mounts a distance away as they approached the entrance to the Whispering Cairn on foot.
It was Kaspar's sharp elven eyesight that caught the first bit of movement beyond the cave entrance. The companions prepared themselves by scattering and taking up defensible positions. Their prudence was rewarded when a large black dragon swooped down and landed on the cairn entrance. It was definitely not Ilthane, they surmised, but the dragon did demand to know what the heroes were doing.
Klaus antagonized the dragon foolishly, perhaps thinking ... well, to be honest no one really knows what he was thinking. His rude actions prompted the dragon to spit a line of acid at him, which carried some sort of poisonous taint along with the flesh-eating acid. The black dragon landed, and melee was engaged with the beast.
It was a tough battle against a tough foe. The dragon brought all of its considerable combat skills to bare against the companions, managing to knock down Kong, Argo, and Duke at separate times. Feeling that his fists were useless against their foe, Kaspar stayed back for most of the fight, running in with lightning speed when he saw one of his party members fall.
Eventually, the black dragon was wounded to the point where he did not want to fight anymore, and uttered a curse against the heroes. "Ilthane and Dragotha take you!" he spat as he flapped his wings and flew away, keeping low to the hills so as to thwart any more spells or arrows.
The heroes were successful, but the fight drained them almost completely. Curiosity got the best of them, however, and they decided to venture into the Whispering Cairn to see how far they could get. The first chamber inside was well-traveled, but Argo was able to pick up Allustan's trail. They followed it to an opaque blackness filling a doorway. Duke identified it as some sort of portal, and Argo verified it was safe. Walking through it was like passing through a wall of mud, but they all emerged through the viscous portal unscathed.
The other side was a hallway where screaming winds kept up a strange piping sound as it passed over holes in the wall. Despite the wind Argo was still able to follow Allustan's tracks, which led into a large chamber containing many pillars. Upon the pillars and walls were runes, runes of a long-dead language that Duke could barely make out. It was based off of Auran, the language of the wind elementals, but was far older. He was able to pick out a few phrases - "glorious Icosiol", "Incomparable Army", and "Battle of Pesh" were all he could read. Everyone started to wonder exactly where they were.
Allustan's tracks continued on to a small intersection with three doors and a statue of a large armored man holding a sword and scales of balance. The sage's footprints led right, but the door from the left door suddenly burst open. Everyone prepared for the worst as two being emerged. The first was a huge fire elemental, crackling with the life, and the second was a large and distinguished looking salamander.
The salamander carried a long spear but was not holding it threateningly. In fact, the normally evil creature from the Elemental Plane of Fire seemed to be in a chatty mood! He introduced himself as Antyress Redpike, Earl of Coalchester of the Coalchester Salamanders, charged with guarding the tomb of Icosiol for all eternity. He invited the heroes into his chamber, which they discovered was layered with red hot coals, and asked if they knew where they were. When Kaspar ventured a guess of the Cairn Hills, Redpike laughed. He called the heroes "young whippersnappers" and led them back to the chamber of pillars so that he could properly tell his tale.
Thousands of years ago, the Earl of Coalchester explained, the forces of Chaos clashed with the forces of Law. On one side was the Queen of Chaos and her champion, Miska the Wolf-Spider, and on the other were the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, charged with upholding law for all eternity. Their conflict raged for time immemorial, until finally they met for a final confrontation on the Prime Material Plane. There, on the Plains of Pesh, the Wind Dukes fought the Queen of Chaos and Miska. The leader of the Wind Dukes was the mighty general Icosiol, who wielded the famous Staff of Law. It was with this powerful artifact that he pierced Miska the Wolf-Spider, defeating the forces of Chaos but killing Icosiol and splintering the item into seven parts. The multiverse knows this now as the Rod of Seven Parts.
After the battle, the Wind Dukes knew their time was fading. And so they built many tombs for their fallen heroes. Icosiol was buried under the Plains of Pesh themselves, and the Wind Dukes extracted an oath from the Elemental Prince of Fire to protect the mighty general's burial site. The noble salamander family of Coalchester was selected to serve as guard.
And thus has it been for many centuries. It was a lot for the companions to take in, and they decided to rest for a period before continuing on. Antyress Redpike did mention seeing a bearded human cross his path a few days ago, confirming Argo's tracking skills. The noble salamander returned to his chamber and the heroes bedded down in the room of pillars, thinking on what they had learned.
Session Updates
Hey, this one is almost on time. Getting better, huh? At any rate, next session is on Feb 14 - Valentine's Day. If someone has something else going on, let me know. Otherwise it's game as usual.
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Return to Allustan with Eligos' Notes
* Rescue Allustan
XP Recap
10th-level Characters 6,000
11th-level Characters 3,050
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Readying 7, 595 CY
The Champion's Game of the City of Greyhawk ended on Fireseek 22, with the Kings of the Road being declared the champions. This year's games did nto go as smoothly as previous years, however, what with the appearance of the Apostle of Kyuss - an ulgurstasta of immense proportions - during the final match. But the heroes prevailed and were treated like - well, like kings.
Following the discovery of Eligos' murdered body on Fireseek 23, the heroes felt that things were not quite over as far as Kyuss and the Age of Worms was concerned. But for the time being the Free City treated them celebrities. Lord Mayor Nerof Gasgal invited them to dinner on Fireseek 24, where he secretly thanked the companions for bringing him the list of officials who had been replaced by dopplegangers. With their well-earned money, the heroes hit the town hard, shopping for new magical toys to upgrade or replace existing ones.
But the death of Eligos gnawed at them, and the knowledge that their actions may have brought upon the sage's death weighed heavily upon all of them. Duke suggested that they pool their resources together and pay to have Eligos resurrected. It was agreed, and they brought the high-ranking priest of Pelor to where the city was storing the sage's body. On Fireseek 26, Eligos the Sage was brought back to the world of the living.
He was disoriented to be sure, but when asked about the note he was writing he was quick to explain. Both Eligos and Allustan were once apprentices to the same master, the legendary wizard Malakara the Mad. Most of the heroes had heard this name, though usually in conjunction with fantastic stories of magic and adventure that have surely become exaggerated tales over the years. Nonetheless, the Mad Mage should be alerted to this information about the Age of Worms - it is possible he even knows more about what's going on.
Unfortunately, Eligos and Malakara had a bit of a falling out, the details of which the sage was not willing to go into. But Allustan was always on better terms with the old wizard, and he should know of the Mad Mage's current location. Eligos returned home to recuperate, and then told the heroes that they should probably get out of town quickly. He was, and made arrangements to leave Greyhawk the next day.
The heroes did their best to keep a low profile while they waited for orders to be fulfilled. Kong had a custom suit of magical armor made, Argo ordered a pair of magical daggers to augment his already impressive skills, and Kaspar kept mostly to himself. Duke worked on scribing scrolls while Klaus busied himself with finding the Thieves' Guild of the city. He was unsuccessful.
All of the equipment was ready to go by Readying 2 and they prepared to leave the very same day. With Duke's caravan, it was agreed that Klaus and Kaspar would ride with the dwarf wizard while Argo rode his dire badger companion Bacon and Kong rode a horse. Then the barbarian saw something catch his eye on the way to the stables. It was a yak, and the image of the proud Kong sitting astride such a powerful beast was one that he couldn't pass up. He offered the keeper of the yak several hundred gold for the beast, which the peasant man was only to happy to take.
So, caravan, badger, and yak left the Free City of Greyhawk on Readying 2 bound for Diamond Lake, the home of Allustan. It was a four day journey, and the mid-winter winds whipped furiously about them. The region around Greyhawk and the Cairn Hills did not get much snow, but they saw a few flakes here and there along the road. Mainly it was just the biting wind.
On Readying 6 the heroes arrived in Diamond Lake, and immediately they knew something was wrong. Not a soul could they see on the roads of the mining town, and a few of the buildings seemed destroyed - almost melted. As they rode through the main street, a few of the townsfolk rushed up to greet them. They asked if they had seen the dragon that attacked the town just a few days ago. It was black dragon, who was demanding Allustan be brought before him. The sage's home was destroyed, along with a few adjacent buildings, and many people were killed before someone finally mentioned that Allustan was last seen a few miles away in one of the many old caves that dotted the area. Called the Whispering Cairn by the locals, it was a site that the sage had been spending quite a bit of time at recently. The black dragon flew away to that location, leaving the citizens of Diamond Lake to cower in fear.
The heroes immediately set out for the Whispering Cairn. It was possible that this dragon was Ilthane herself, perhaps seeking Allustan for his involvement in the destruction of the clutch of eggs in the Twisted Branch tribe. It was a short journey to the site, and they left their mounts a distance away as they approached the entrance to the Whispering Cairn on foot.
It was Kaspar's sharp elven eyesight that caught the first bit of movement beyond the cave entrance. The companions prepared themselves by scattering and taking up defensible positions. Their prudence was rewarded when a large black dragon swooped down and landed on the cairn entrance. It was definitely not Ilthane, they surmised, but the dragon did demand to know what the heroes were doing.
Klaus antagonized the dragon foolishly, perhaps thinking ... well, to be honest no one really knows what he was thinking. His rude actions prompted the dragon to spit a line of acid at him, which carried some sort of poisonous taint along with the flesh-eating acid. The black dragon landed, and melee was engaged with the beast.
It was a tough battle against a tough foe. The dragon brought all of its considerable combat skills to bare against the companions, managing to knock down Kong, Argo, and Duke at separate times. Feeling that his fists were useless against their foe, Kaspar stayed back for most of the fight, running in with lightning speed when he saw one of his party members fall.
Eventually, the black dragon was wounded to the point where he did not want to fight anymore, and uttered a curse against the heroes. "Ilthane and Dragotha take you!" he spat as he flapped his wings and flew away, keeping low to the hills so as to thwart any more spells or arrows.
The heroes were successful, but the fight drained them almost completely. Curiosity got the best of them, however, and they decided to venture into the Whispering Cairn to see how far they could get. The first chamber inside was well-traveled, but Argo was able to pick up Allustan's trail. They followed it to an opaque blackness filling a doorway. Duke identified it as some sort of portal, and Argo verified it was safe. Walking through it was like passing through a wall of mud, but they all emerged through the viscous portal unscathed.
The other side was a hallway where screaming winds kept up a strange piping sound as it passed over holes in the wall. Despite the wind Argo was still able to follow Allustan's tracks, which led into a large chamber containing many pillars. Upon the pillars and walls were runes, runes of a long-dead language that Duke could barely make out. It was based off of Auran, the language of the wind elementals, but was far older. He was able to pick out a few phrases - "glorious Icosiol", "Incomparable Army", and "Battle of Pesh" were all he could read. Everyone started to wonder exactly where they were.
Allustan's tracks continued on to a small intersection with three doors and a statue of a large armored man holding a sword and scales of balance. The sage's footprints led right, but the door from the left door suddenly burst open. Everyone prepared for the worst as two being emerged. The first was a huge fire elemental, crackling with the life, and the second was a large and distinguished looking salamander.
The salamander carried a long spear but was not holding it threateningly. In fact, the normally evil creature from the Elemental Plane of Fire seemed to be in a chatty mood! He introduced himself as Antyress Redpike, Earl of Coalchester of the Coalchester Salamanders, charged with guarding the tomb of Icosiol for all eternity. He invited the heroes into his chamber, which they discovered was layered with red hot coals, and asked if they knew where they were. When Kaspar ventured a guess of the Cairn Hills, Redpike laughed. He called the heroes "young whippersnappers" and led them back to the chamber of pillars so that he could properly tell his tale.
Thousands of years ago, the Earl of Coalchester explained, the forces of Chaos clashed with the forces of Law. On one side was the Queen of Chaos and her champion, Miska the Wolf-Spider, and on the other were the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, charged with upholding law for all eternity. Their conflict raged for time immemorial, until finally they met for a final confrontation on the Prime Material Plane. There, on the Plains of Pesh, the Wind Dukes fought the Queen of Chaos and Miska. The leader of the Wind Dukes was the mighty general Icosiol, who wielded the famous Staff of Law. It was with this powerful artifact that he pierced Miska the Wolf-Spider, defeating the forces of Chaos but killing Icosiol and splintering the item into seven parts. The multiverse knows this now as the Rod of Seven Parts.
After the battle, the Wind Dukes knew their time was fading. And so they built many tombs for their fallen heroes. Icosiol was buried under the Plains of Pesh themselves, and the Wind Dukes extracted an oath from the Elemental Prince of Fire to protect the mighty general's burial site. The noble salamander family of Coalchester was selected to serve as guard.
And thus has it been for many centuries. It was a lot for the companions to take in, and they decided to rest for a period before continuing on. Antyress Redpike did mention seeing a bearded human cross his path a few days ago, confirming Argo's tracking skills. The noble salamander returned to his chamber and the heroes bedded down in the room of pillars, thinking on what they had learned.
Session Updates
Hey, this one is almost on time. Getting better, huh? At any rate, next session is on Feb 14 - Valentine's Day. If someone has something else going on, let me know. Otherwise it's game as usual.
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Return to Allustan with Eligos' Notes
* Rescue Allustan
XP Recap
10th-level Characters 6,000
11th-level Characters 3,050
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Age of Worms Campaign Update 1/31/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20080131, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Fireseek 23, 595 CY
Tragedy stood before the heroes-turned-gladiators, along with many unanswered questions. On Fireseek 20 the halfling rogue Shanks died from a magical glyph guarding a secret door, and then was reincarnated on Fireseek 21 into a human woman. Sadly, her hours on Oerth were numbered and she met her end in the gullet of Madtooth the Hungry during that day's Champion's Game match. But the Kings of the Road were ultimately victorious over the strange and dangerous froghemoth, but sadness still clung at their hearts.
As they recovered in the Coenoby after their match, contemplating their next move, a bedraggled figure stumbled into the cave. It was a dwarf, sopping wet, who claimed to have fled a warren of ghouls in the undercity of Greyhawk by removing a large stone plug from a small pool deeper into the Coenoby cavern system. He introduced himself as Klaus Kopperthumb of the Flinty Hills, and asked if there was a way to get outside the city from this cave system. The heroes exchanged glances, and Duke made a proposition - if Klaus would join the Kings of the Road for the final match of the Champion's Games, they would share a portion of the loot and help the dwarf get out of the city (since that seemed to be what he wanted). Klaus agreed, and was filled in with what the heroes had learned up to this point.
The first thing Klaus suggested was to check out the secret passage Shanks had found, since people don't booby trap wine cellars with slay living spells unless there's something to hide. With the dwarf rogue in the lead, the companions (all of them this time) headed up stairs and to the wine cellar. Argo kept a watchful eye out, but it seemed as though the guards were enjoying their last night on duty and were not particularly attentive. They made it to the cellar and secret door without incident.
Descending the staircase they came upon a square room containing three coffins propped up against the far wall. The entire area reeked of death and decay, which became all the more potent as four worm-ridden spawns of Kyuss lurched out of the shadows. They charged forward, but the heroes were better prepared for them. Argo cut down one with lightning flashes of his daggers, Kaspar and Klaus worked on another together, Kong managed to cleave two with his greatsword, and Duke polished off the last one. No one was infected with the tiny green worms, especially the barbarian whom had a babau slime spell cast on him that helped immensely.
A side passage from this chamber contained a small hole descending into the sewers below, which it seemed whomever lived here used as a garbage. The other side passage was a narrow hallway, and they took a left at a fork in the path that led to a strange room. It held what appeared to be an ancient pump system, though neither Duke nor Klaus (the dwarves) had any clue as to how it worked. But there was a pipe that exited the room, which was just large enough for a halfling to fit through. A halfling like Argo, who - with the help of Kong - hopped up into the pipe and crawled along its length.
There was a definite greenish glow at the end, which wasn't too far down, and upon reaching the end the halfling ranger was shocked and dismayed at what confronted him. It was a huge, bloated, pulsating, yellow grub or worm, encased in a slight greenish shell. Argo found that the greenish shell surrounding the thing - which he correctly guessed was an ulgurstasta that Eligos had warned them about - prevented him from continuing into the room itself, so he decided to head back (hastily). He related all of this to his companions, who grew more determined to find whatever lived down here and stop it.
Going back down the passage and taking the only remaining path they came upon a large chamber. It contained what appeared to be practice dummies and rusty training equipment, which seemed odd. But Kaspar remembered that the church of Kord, god of strength, used to control the Free City Arena, and these types of training chambers were not uncommon amongst that god's faithful. There was a single door leading on, and Klaus checked it for traps and found nothing. Cautiously they continued.
The chamber beyond had a palpable evil feel to it, with a single pedestal in the center of the room. On the pedestal was a partially unrolled ornate scroll, encased in a greenish shell, from which an emerald beam emanated out to the double doors across the room. Standing behind the pedestal, apparently once in meditation, was a grotesque humanoid, with flaccid pale skin, patchy hair, and a holy symbol around his neck - the holy symbol of Kyuss, demigod of worms and undead. He pulled out a morningstar and laughed gutturally and stepped forward, at which point the heroes noticed his legs were those of a goat. The goat-man apparently knew of the companions, as he called them out by name and laughed at them for attempting to stop the Age of Worms. The five companions then descended upon the tielfling cleric of Kyuss with extreme ferocity, beating him to within an inch of his life after mere moments.
The cleric of Kyuss then fell to his knees and dropped his weapon, calling out for mercy. Kong would give none, however, and chopped his head off with a well-timed critical strike. The headless corpse collapsed to the ground. Duke rushed over to the pedestal and correctly identified the object as the Apostolic Scroll, sold to Loris Raknian by the mind flayer Xyrzog several weeks before. But the greenish shell prevented anyone from touching or moving the artifact. Klaus opened the double doors and revealed the yellowish grub-like worm Argo had seen also encased in the greenish shell. This was the Apostle of Kyuss, summoned by the Apostolic Scrolls, and the heroes knew they were going to be in trouble. But try as they might they could not break the shell.
Duke was able to read a bit of the partially unrolled scroll (it was written in an old dialect of Common), and it told of how the Age of Worms could be started by the Apostle of Kyuss devouring a champion. Clearly this ulgurstasta was going to be unleashed during the final match of Champion's Game, where last year's champins (Auric's Band) would be facing the Kings of the Road. But would this be stopped with the death of the Kyuss cleric? This was a question that did not have an answer, so the heroes decided to try and reason with Auric's Band once they returned.
The only other door from the altar chamber was apparently the Kyuss cleric's personal quarters. Inside they found his personal possessions, along with a zombie. Not a worm-ridden zombie, just a regular zombie standing by a table with two empty goblets and a empty bottle of wine. Argo approached and found the zombie to be non-responsive, and noted that she (it was a female human zombie) had died of strangulation. The marks were still around her neck, and a strange indentation of a coiling snake was imprinted on the neck as well. Kong remembered seeing Loris Raknian with a ring of coiling snakes, and Kaspar put the pieces together after a moment. This zombie was Ekaym Smallcask's sister, murdered by Loris Raknian! Why the cleric of Kyuss was keeping her in his personal chambers was a thought best left unthunk.
The discussion turned towards transporting the zombie and presenting her to Ekaym. Eventually, Kong decided to put the non-responsive zombie woman in his bag of holding until they met back up with their manager, and against the advice of Klaus this is exactly what happened. The heroes returned to the Coenoby, disturbed and more than a little frightened of what might happen. They immediately confronted Auric's Band, which consisted of the warrior Auric and the wizard Khellek, and explained that unless they not fight on Fireseek 22 a giant worm was going to eat them. Of course the two champions laughed at the heroes, seeing their story as a poorly fabricated lie to cheat them out of a win. Klaus was insistent to the point of being beligerent.
After many minutes of arguing, Khellek finally agreed to one thing. At the beginning of the match, both teams would walk - not charge - to the center of the Free City Arena. Assuming nothing happened by then, they would then proceed with the match as normal. A small concession, but one that the companions finally agreed upon. Auric seemed particularly eager to face Kong in the next day's match, and the two had a small pose-off (the winner of which was not determined).
Duke also wrote three letters explaining the situation - one to Eligos, one to the Wizards' Guild, and one to the Guild of Translators. Perhaps one of them could muster some sort of resistance at the games, but there was precious little time - Ekaym would have to deliver to the messages the following day before the match.
The Kings of the Road returned to their section of the Coenoby and rested fretfully the night. The next day was Fireseek 22, the last of the Champion's Games, and a day that shall remain in memory for the City of Greyhawk for many years to come.
Ekaym took Duke's letters and promised to try and deliver them. At noon the two teams were brought up to the arena floor. The Free City Arena was packed with people - this was clearly the most populated day of the games. It was announced that Loris Raknian was running late, but that the match would begin as soon as he arrived. It was fifteen minutes later when the master of the arena finally arrived, seemingly out of breath, and announced in a grandiose voice the start of the final game. The two teams walked carefully forward, and just before they reached the center something happened.
The ground shook with the force of a small earthquake, and the crowds fell to a murmuring hush. Moments later the ground shook again, knocking Auric's Band to their feet, as a large bulge appeared in the center of the arena. Another moment later the bulge burst forth, and the ulgurstasta - the Apostle of Kyuss itself - heaved upwards with a soul-piercing shriek. Loris Raknian stood triumphant in his personal box in the eastern stands, announcing that the Age of Worms was upon us! He pointed to the arena floor, calling out the champions as the food of the Apostle of Kyuss!
The ulgurstasta crawled forward towards the fallen Auric's Band, and the companions went into action. Duke cast haste, but not before the Apostle of Kyuss grabbed Auric and swallowed him in one gulp. Kong shouted as he raged up, and charged forward, cutting the monstrous undead worm deep. But he found himself on the receiving end of the creature's chomping bit and swallowing gullet. Inside the necrotic acid at away at the mighty barbarian's very health, draining him and pulverizing him.
Outside, Kaspar took a few more shots at the distant Loris Raknian while Argo and Duke prepared to assault the Apostle of Kyuss. Khellek's band of flesh golems wailed on the undead monster but to little effect. Klaus ran for the stands, eager to confront Raknian on his own turf. Duke cast an empowered lightning bolt at the ulgurstasta and Argo carved a chunk out of its hide. This seemed to anger the thing, for at that moment it raised up on its multitude of hind legs and breathed a cone of necrotic acid at the remaining heroes.
Argo and Kaspar managed to avoid most of the blast, but Duke was not so lucky. Amongst the bile spat up was a pile of Kyuss spawn, along with Kong and Auric (both still alive but wounded). Duke went to work dispatching the spawn while the rest of the party tried to stop the worm.
Klaus managed to make his way up the wall of the arena and into the stands, where he attracted the attention of Loris Raknian. The Champion's Game organizer drew a wicked bastard sword and ran forward, cutting the dwarf rogue deep. It was then that Klaus knew he was outmatched, and decided to try and play up to the arrogant man's ego. Klaus fell to his knees and pledged his service to Raknian and Kyuss, who exulted at this turn of events. The two watched the ulgurstasta attack the heroes and Auric's Band, all the while the crafty dwarf rogue looking for a weakness.
Back in the arena, things were not going so well. Kong went down, and Kaspar dragged him out of harm's way and dropped a potion down his throat. Argo and Duke kept the Apostle of Kyuss busy as the barbarian recovered. With a (semi-) united front, the Kings of the Road finally defeated the unholy ulgurstasta, which crashed to the ground.
Raknian was stunned, and this was the moment Klaus had been waiting for. He brought his battle axe in quick and low, cutting the man deep, but instead of a retaliatory strike he found his opponent running away. Klaus gave chase, followed by Kaspar, but they failed to catch Raknian before he disappeared behind a secret door. The elven monk ran as fast as he could through the crowds to fetch a cleric, and returned minutes later with a few in tow.
Auric and Khellek conceded the battle to the heroes, considering the circumstances, and it was announced that the Kings of the Road were the final winners of the Champion's Games! What crowd was left cheered at this, and the trophies were passed out. Ekaym Smallcask thanked the heroes for their help and turned over the profits, which were a tidy sum for Argo and Duke. He then left to return to his home in Cauldron, many miles to the south.
The Kings of the Road, exhausted, left the Free City Arena champions. Not only of the gladiator games, but champions of good and justice. Something gnawed at them, however, something just outside of reach. The first thing they did was to visit Eligos the sage and see if he had learned any more of the Age of Worms. They returned to his home to find tragedy - the sage and his elven servant were dead, murdered. They found an unfinished note addressed to Allustan, requesting that the sage consult with "their former master."
Duke summed up the situation with one phrase - "I don't think we're done yet."
Session Update
Wow, sorry about the lateness of this post. Shoulda gone up a week ago. So much to write though, and I know I missed some details. But most of them are there, I think.
Quest Cards Completed
* Investigate Loris Raknian and the Apostolic Scrolls
* Find Ekaym Smallcask's Sister
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Speak with Allustan about Eligos' Research
XP Recap
9th level Characters 12,000 XP
10th level Characters 10,000 XP
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Fireseek 23, 595 CY
Tragedy stood before the heroes-turned-gladiators, along with many unanswered questions. On Fireseek 20 the halfling rogue Shanks died from a magical glyph guarding a secret door, and then was reincarnated on Fireseek 21 into a human woman. Sadly, her hours on Oerth were numbered and she met her end in the gullet of Madtooth the Hungry during that day's Champion's Game match. But the Kings of the Road were ultimately victorious over the strange and dangerous froghemoth, but sadness still clung at their hearts.
As they recovered in the Coenoby after their match, contemplating their next move, a bedraggled figure stumbled into the cave. It was a dwarf, sopping wet, who claimed to have fled a warren of ghouls in the undercity of Greyhawk by removing a large stone plug from a small pool deeper into the Coenoby cavern system. He introduced himself as Klaus Kopperthumb of the Flinty Hills, and asked if there was a way to get outside the city from this cave system. The heroes exchanged glances, and Duke made a proposition - if Klaus would join the Kings of the Road for the final match of the Champion's Games, they would share a portion of the loot and help the dwarf get out of the city (since that seemed to be what he wanted). Klaus agreed, and was filled in with what the heroes had learned up to this point.
The first thing Klaus suggested was to check out the secret passage Shanks had found, since people don't booby trap wine cellars with slay living spells unless there's something to hide. With the dwarf rogue in the lead, the companions (all of them this time) headed up stairs and to the wine cellar. Argo kept a watchful eye out, but it seemed as though the guards were enjoying their last night on duty and were not particularly attentive. They made it to the cellar and secret door without incident.
Descending the staircase they came upon a square room containing three coffins propped up against the far wall. The entire area reeked of death and decay, which became all the more potent as four worm-ridden spawns of Kyuss lurched out of the shadows. They charged forward, but the heroes were better prepared for them. Argo cut down one with lightning flashes of his daggers, Kaspar and Klaus worked on another together, Kong managed to cleave two with his greatsword, and Duke polished off the last one. No one was infected with the tiny green worms, especially the barbarian whom had a babau slime spell cast on him that helped immensely.
A side passage from this chamber contained a small hole descending into the sewers below, which it seemed whomever lived here used as a garbage. The other side passage was a narrow hallway, and they took a left at a fork in the path that led to a strange room. It held what appeared to be an ancient pump system, though neither Duke nor Klaus (the dwarves) had any clue as to how it worked. But there was a pipe that exited the room, which was just large enough for a halfling to fit through. A halfling like Argo, who - with the help of Kong - hopped up into the pipe and crawled along its length.
There was a definite greenish glow at the end, which wasn't too far down, and upon reaching the end the halfling ranger was shocked and dismayed at what confronted him. It was a huge, bloated, pulsating, yellow grub or worm, encased in a slight greenish shell. Argo found that the greenish shell surrounding the thing - which he correctly guessed was an ulgurstasta that Eligos had warned them about - prevented him from continuing into the room itself, so he decided to head back (hastily). He related all of this to his companions, who grew more determined to find whatever lived down here and stop it.
Going back down the passage and taking the only remaining path they came upon a large chamber. It contained what appeared to be practice dummies and rusty training equipment, which seemed odd. But Kaspar remembered that the church of Kord, god of strength, used to control the Free City Arena, and these types of training chambers were not uncommon amongst that god's faithful. There was a single door leading on, and Klaus checked it for traps and found nothing. Cautiously they continued.
The chamber beyond had a palpable evil feel to it, with a single pedestal in the center of the room. On the pedestal was a partially unrolled ornate scroll, encased in a greenish shell, from which an emerald beam emanated out to the double doors across the room. Standing behind the pedestal, apparently once in meditation, was a grotesque humanoid, with flaccid pale skin, patchy hair, and a holy symbol around his neck - the holy symbol of Kyuss, demigod of worms and undead. He pulled out a morningstar and laughed gutturally and stepped forward, at which point the heroes noticed his legs were those of a goat. The goat-man apparently knew of the companions, as he called them out by name and laughed at them for attempting to stop the Age of Worms. The five companions then descended upon the tielfling cleric of Kyuss with extreme ferocity, beating him to within an inch of his life after mere moments.
The cleric of Kyuss then fell to his knees and dropped his weapon, calling out for mercy. Kong would give none, however, and chopped his head off with a well-timed critical strike. The headless corpse collapsed to the ground. Duke rushed over to the pedestal and correctly identified the object as the Apostolic Scroll, sold to Loris Raknian by the mind flayer Xyrzog several weeks before. But the greenish shell prevented anyone from touching or moving the artifact. Klaus opened the double doors and revealed the yellowish grub-like worm Argo had seen also encased in the greenish shell. This was the Apostle of Kyuss, summoned by the Apostolic Scrolls, and the heroes knew they were going to be in trouble. But try as they might they could not break the shell.
Duke was able to read a bit of the partially unrolled scroll (it was written in an old dialect of Common), and it told of how the Age of Worms could be started by the Apostle of Kyuss devouring a champion. Clearly this ulgurstasta was going to be unleashed during the final match of Champion's Game, where last year's champins (Auric's Band) would be facing the Kings of the Road. But would this be stopped with the death of the Kyuss cleric? This was a question that did not have an answer, so the heroes decided to try and reason with Auric's Band once they returned.
The only other door from the altar chamber was apparently the Kyuss cleric's personal quarters. Inside they found his personal possessions, along with a zombie. Not a worm-ridden zombie, just a regular zombie standing by a table with two empty goblets and a empty bottle of wine. Argo approached and found the zombie to be non-responsive, and noted that she (it was a female human zombie) had died of strangulation. The marks were still around her neck, and a strange indentation of a coiling snake was imprinted on the neck as well. Kong remembered seeing Loris Raknian with a ring of coiling snakes, and Kaspar put the pieces together after a moment. This zombie was Ekaym Smallcask's sister, murdered by Loris Raknian! Why the cleric of Kyuss was keeping her in his personal chambers was a thought best left unthunk.
The discussion turned towards transporting the zombie and presenting her to Ekaym. Eventually, Kong decided to put the non-responsive zombie woman in his bag of holding until they met back up with their manager, and against the advice of Klaus this is exactly what happened. The heroes returned to the Coenoby, disturbed and more than a little frightened of what might happen. They immediately confronted Auric's Band, which consisted of the warrior Auric and the wizard Khellek, and explained that unless they not fight on Fireseek 22 a giant worm was going to eat them. Of course the two champions laughed at the heroes, seeing their story as a poorly fabricated lie to cheat them out of a win. Klaus was insistent to the point of being beligerent.
After many minutes of arguing, Khellek finally agreed to one thing. At the beginning of the match, both teams would walk - not charge - to the center of the Free City Arena. Assuming nothing happened by then, they would then proceed with the match as normal. A small concession, but one that the companions finally agreed upon. Auric seemed particularly eager to face Kong in the next day's match, and the two had a small pose-off (the winner of which was not determined).
Duke also wrote three letters explaining the situation - one to Eligos, one to the Wizards' Guild, and one to the Guild of Translators. Perhaps one of them could muster some sort of resistance at the games, but there was precious little time - Ekaym would have to deliver to the messages the following day before the match.
The Kings of the Road returned to their section of the Coenoby and rested fretfully the night. The next day was Fireseek 22, the last of the Champion's Games, and a day that shall remain in memory for the City of Greyhawk for many years to come.
Ekaym took Duke's letters and promised to try and deliver them. At noon the two teams were brought up to the arena floor. The Free City Arena was packed with people - this was clearly the most populated day of the games. It was announced that Loris Raknian was running late, but that the match would begin as soon as he arrived. It was fifteen minutes later when the master of the arena finally arrived, seemingly out of breath, and announced in a grandiose voice the start of the final game. The two teams walked carefully forward, and just before they reached the center something happened.
The ground shook with the force of a small earthquake, and the crowds fell to a murmuring hush. Moments later the ground shook again, knocking Auric's Band to their feet, as a large bulge appeared in the center of the arena. Another moment later the bulge burst forth, and the ulgurstasta - the Apostle of Kyuss itself - heaved upwards with a soul-piercing shriek. Loris Raknian stood triumphant in his personal box in the eastern stands, announcing that the Age of Worms was upon us! He pointed to the arena floor, calling out the champions as the food of the Apostle of Kyuss!
The ulgurstasta crawled forward towards the fallen Auric's Band, and the companions went into action. Duke cast haste, but not before the Apostle of Kyuss grabbed Auric and swallowed him in one gulp. Kong shouted as he raged up, and charged forward, cutting the monstrous undead worm deep. But he found himself on the receiving end of the creature's chomping bit and swallowing gullet. Inside the necrotic acid at away at the mighty barbarian's very health, draining him and pulverizing him.
Outside, Kaspar took a few more shots at the distant Loris Raknian while Argo and Duke prepared to assault the Apostle of Kyuss. Khellek's band of flesh golems wailed on the undead monster but to little effect. Klaus ran for the stands, eager to confront Raknian on his own turf. Duke cast an empowered lightning bolt at the ulgurstasta and Argo carved a chunk out of its hide. This seemed to anger the thing, for at that moment it raised up on its multitude of hind legs and breathed a cone of necrotic acid at the remaining heroes.
Argo and Kaspar managed to avoid most of the blast, but Duke was not so lucky. Amongst the bile spat up was a pile of Kyuss spawn, along with Kong and Auric (both still alive but wounded). Duke went to work dispatching the spawn while the rest of the party tried to stop the worm.
Klaus managed to make his way up the wall of the arena and into the stands, where he attracted the attention of Loris Raknian. The Champion's Game organizer drew a wicked bastard sword and ran forward, cutting the dwarf rogue deep. It was then that Klaus knew he was outmatched, and decided to try and play up to the arrogant man's ego. Klaus fell to his knees and pledged his service to Raknian and Kyuss, who exulted at this turn of events. The two watched the ulgurstasta attack the heroes and Auric's Band, all the while the crafty dwarf rogue looking for a weakness.
Back in the arena, things were not going so well. Kong went down, and Kaspar dragged him out of harm's way and dropped a potion down his throat. Argo and Duke kept the Apostle of Kyuss busy as the barbarian recovered. With a (semi-) united front, the Kings of the Road finally defeated the unholy ulgurstasta, which crashed to the ground.
Raknian was stunned, and this was the moment Klaus had been waiting for. He brought his battle axe in quick and low, cutting the man deep, but instead of a retaliatory strike he found his opponent running away. Klaus gave chase, followed by Kaspar, but they failed to catch Raknian before he disappeared behind a secret door. The elven monk ran as fast as he could through the crowds to fetch a cleric, and returned minutes later with a few in tow.
Auric and Khellek conceded the battle to the heroes, considering the circumstances, and it was announced that the Kings of the Road were the final winners of the Champion's Games! What crowd was left cheered at this, and the trophies were passed out. Ekaym Smallcask thanked the heroes for their help and turned over the profits, which were a tidy sum for Argo and Duke. He then left to return to his home in Cauldron, many miles to the south.
The Kings of the Road, exhausted, left the Free City Arena champions. Not only of the gladiator games, but champions of good and justice. Something gnawed at them, however, something just outside of reach. The first thing they did was to visit Eligos the sage and see if he had learned any more of the Age of Worms. They returned to his home to find tragedy - the sage and his elven servant were dead, murdered. They found an unfinished note addressed to Allustan, requesting that the sage consult with "their former master."
Duke summed up the situation with one phrase - "I don't think we're done yet."
Session Update
Wow, sorry about the lateness of this post. Shoulda gone up a week ago. So much to write though, and I know I missed some details. But most of them are there, I think.
Quest Cards Completed
* Investigate Loris Raknian and the Apostolic Scrolls
* Find Ekaym Smallcask's Sister
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Speak with Allustan about Eligos' Research
XP Recap
9th level Characters 12,000 XP
10th level Characters 10,000 XP
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Rock Band Rawk Out!
I'm just gonna throw this out there ... Rock Band is way fun. Seriously, way fun. Guitar Hero's a good time, don't get me wrong, but there are few things better than rocking out on a set with three of your buddies on the same song. The "single player" game seems to be there only as practice, since you just go through the songs. Which is not a bad thing.
I've completed Drums on Hard, and feel pretty confident playing any random song on Hard (though I still shudder when Run to the Hills or any Metallica song comes up). So the next level is Expert ... and damn is it hard. Really, really hard. I went through the first ten songs in solo play and thought "This isn't so bad." Yesterday I went through the next five and COMPLETELY FAILED on two of them, aced one of them, and suffered through the other two to a successful completion. I need to find something that works with my foot without breaking the kick pedal, 'cause that's what I'm terrified of, being I've already broken one. That and I need to train my left hand/wrist to work faster, hold the stick lighter, and utilize the bounce. I've got it down with my right hand but Ol' Lefty is having problems.
But the bottom line: Rock Band = teh r0kz, w00t. Or something. I can't wait to get to the Endless Setlist (all 58 songs in the core release as one setlist). Ha! Ha! Ha. Ha. Ha... ha... ha... ha... hmmm.
I've completed Drums on Hard, and feel pretty confident playing any random song on Hard (though I still shudder when Run to the Hills or any Metallica song comes up). So the next level is Expert ... and damn is it hard. Really, really hard. I went through the first ten songs in solo play and thought "This isn't so bad." Yesterday I went through the next five and COMPLETELY FAILED on two of them, aced one of them, and suffered through the other two to a successful completion. I need to find something that works with my foot without breaking the kick pedal, 'cause that's what I'm terrified of, being I've already broken one. That and I need to train my left hand/wrist to work faster, hold the stick lighter, and utilize the bounce. I've got it down with my right hand but Ol' Lefty is having problems.
But the bottom line: Rock Band = teh r0kz, w00t. Or something. I can't wait to get to the Endless Setlist (all 58 songs in the core release as one setlist). Ha! Ha! Ha. Ha. Ha... ha... ha... ha... hmmm.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Age of Worms Campaign Update 1/24/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20080124, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Fireseek 21, 595 CY
Still bound to the Coenoby of the Free City Arena, the heroes have completed the first day of gladiator competitions in the Champion's Games - and have learned a startling truth. Their manager, Ekaym Smallcask, has informed his team of an ulterior motive in sponsoring them. His sister, Lahaka, disappeared immediately after last year's games, and the only places Ekaym has not searched is the infrastructure of the arena itself and Loris Raknian's adjoining palace.
Exhausted after their first battle, the heroes were nonetheless eager to search out the infrastructure to see what they could find. The lower level where the Coenoby was seemed to be a series of caverns, and a passage led away into the darkness. With Shanks leading the way the party descended further into the caves. They came upon a larger, rougher version of the Coenoby called the Titan's House, used occasionally by gladiators for more secretive and carnal pursuits. Kaspar found a pool at the far end of the abandoned chamber, and an odd stone plug at the far end underwater. The stone plug was clearly manufactured.
The heroes started to argue about what to do, and Shanks was determined to unplug the plug and find out what lay behind it. Duke remembered hearing stories of the Free City Arena being plagued by ghouls, and that Loris Raknian had the ghoul warrens sealed shut with a large stone plug some years ago. The idea of fighting a city filled with flesh-craving ghouls did not sit well with anyone, and they returned to the Coenoby determined to search the upper level.
Guards were light on the first night, and the party easily slipped upstairs to the main level just below the arena floor. The stoneworked passages were constructed in a circular fashion, with lifts going up to the arena itself in the four cardinal directions of the circle. A series of chambers criss-crossed the middle section, and it was this way that the heroes ventured.
The first passage they followed contained caged animals - dire boars, jaguars, and lions, presumably for showcasing on the next day (where there were no gladiator fights scheduled). It was at this point that Kong realized that this was a bad idea. If they were caught sneaking around, they would likely get thrown out of the games. Duke seconded the idea, and suggested that Shanks and Argo explore the section alone, since they were the most stealthy. The heroes agreed, and Duke loaned Argo his hat of disguise to disguise the halfling in case they were caught. Shanks drank his potion of invisibility and the rest of the party returned to the Coenoby.
Argo and Shanks made their way stealthily through the passages, coming upon the recreation room of the eight stationed guards. Past that room was another hallway, similar to the animal cages, but these were mostly empty. Except for a dirty, bedraggled man, rocking back and forth on his knees. Argo asked what was the matter, and the man could barely string a sentence together, but seemed to be muttering something about the cell across the hall. The halfling ranger asked what happened, and could only get a muttering of "goat man" and a finger pointing at the far cell, where it seemed the "goat man" was still waiting. Shanks checked it out and find it to be a wine storage chamber that smelled strongly of vinegar.
Shanks mentioned the word "worm" to the man on a whim, and it had a dramatic effect. The insane man started screaming at the top of his lungs, clawing at the bars frantically. The two halflings could hear the guards approach and knew question and answer time was over. They darted into the shadows and crept back to the Coenoby, but they had a bit more information to go off now. Something was in that wine cellar, and Shanks was determined to find out what.
The next day, Fireseek 19, was the bi-day where no gladiator combat would take place. Of course, the gladiators were once again limited to the Coenoby. Guards were posted at the entrance, so the Kings of the Road kept to themselves like everyone else. There were a total of six teams left - Kings of the Road, Auric's Warband, Iron Hill Monkeys, Pitch Blade, The Crazy Eights, and the Teeth of Kord. All teams were silent and brooding.
After the day's events were through, Shanks and Argo snuck up to the upper floor and made their way stealthily towards the cells. They found all of the cells empty now - the insane man was nowhere to be found. They moved on to search the wine cellar, with one of the halflings on guard while the other scoured the room. They didn't find anything out of the ordinary, but Shanks was convinced there was something there. The two of them returned to the Coenoby.
Fireseek 20 arrived, the third day of the Champion's Games, and matches were posted early. Kings of the Road were scheduled to fight Pitch Blade as the last match of the day. After seeing that Pitch Blade was comprised entirely of two dwarven barbarians, Kong laughed and declared they had all but won their match already. Confidence levels were high by the time they were brought up to the arena floor, to the grand cheering of the crowd.
Opposite them were Pitch Blade - two well-armed, barrel-chested dwarves carrying shields and shouting furiously. The match began with Loris Raknian's pronouncement, and immediately Pitch Blade flew at their opponents. Literally flew - they were flying at top speeds to close the vast distance of the arena floor. Everyone gathered around Duke and the dwarf cast haste, preparing everyone for the fight ahead. Kaspar ducked off to the side and shot an arrow while Kong strode forward purposefully, attacking as he did so.
The dwarves of Pitch Blade were not impressed, and the one cut bloody swaths in his barbarian opponent. The crowd cheered as the other dwarf stepped forward and started to pummel Argo with a flaming bastard sword. The Kings of the Road returned blows but it was obvious their opponents were tougher than they realized. Shanks maneuvered to position himself in a better spot, when the unthinkable happened - mighty Kong, even in the depths of his barbarian rage, dropped to the ground from his wounds. Things were not looking so well and Argo was forced to withdraw to suck down some potions.
But Shanks had an idea, an idea so crazy it had to work. He shouted to get Kaspar's attention and then used his spiked chain to attempt to disarm the dwarf that felled Kong. The first attempt the dwarf parried, but the second whip of the chain wrapped around the sword and knocked it from his raging hands. At that moment, the elf monk ran with the speed of a lightning cheetah, tucked and rolled as he passed the stunned dwarf, and leapt to his feet - holding the dwarf's fallen flaming sword! The crowd gave a rousing cheer as Kaspar held the sword aloft like a giant torch. The other dwarf in Pitch Blade disengaged from Argo and flew after the elf. Tunnel vision set in and all he could see was Kaspar. But the elf monk's blinding speed kept him ahead of his opponent as he led him on a merry chase around the arena.
The disarmed dwarf proceeded to use his shield to bash Shanks, but soon found the clever halfling had used the spiked chain to rid him of his shield as well! Kong was revived by Duke, and the Kings of the Road dispatched the unarmed raging dwarf barbarian with relative ease at that point. The second dwarf charged headfirst at Kaspar and managed to cut the elf deep, but found himself weaponless when Shanks came up and used his disarm attack again. Kong finished off the second dwarf barbarian to the roar of the crowd! "KINGS! KINGS! KINGS!" they shouted.
Argo caught the look of surprise and anger on Loris Raknian's face, and made a gesture with his dagger that could have been construed as a threat. But the Champion's Game organizer was cordial when he presented the winnings to Ekaym and the Kings of the Road were led back to the Coenoby. Ekaym visited them shortly thereafter, bringing potions a plenty and congratulations.
The gladiator teams were reduced to three after the third day - Kings of the Road, Auric's Warband, and Iron Hill Monkeys. The next day's matches were also posted when they returned, and the heroes were surprised to find that they were the ones fighting the monster, a creatured called Madtooth the Hungry. One of the guards posting the match list commented on how hard it was to keep Madtooth's cage cold, and how glad they would be once they were able to return the frost salamander to the cold northlands. The heroes took this information and started to prepare for the next day's competition accordingly, prepping fire spells and other heat attacks.
Later in the evening, Shanks and Argo decided to test their luck with the wine cellar again. They snuck upstairs and into the cellar, and Argo was placed on watch while Shanks searched the room. It would be the last time anyone saw the halfling Shanks alive.
While searching the room, Shanks finally found the secret chamber he knew was there. But his erstwhile searching triggered a nefarious magical glyph of warding that gripped at his heart. The halfling was not strong enough to resist and fell, stone dead, to the slay living spell. Argo found Shanks laying face first on the stone slab in front of a secret panel, revealing a staircase going down.
Dric "Shanks" Dair'Rill, male halfling fighter and rogue, died on Fireseek 20 to a slay living spell from a trap.
As quietly as he could, Argo dragged the dead body of his companion back down to the Coenoby where they discussed what to do. It was too late for Ekaym to return to the grounds this night, and they would not have much time in the morning to deal with situation. After much discussion (and checking of pocket books, which were not hefty) Duke suggested that they use the druidic ritual of reincarnation to return Shanks back to the world of the living. He might not come back as a halfling, but he would definitely come back. They decided that was the best idea, and waited patiently for the next day.
Ekaym arrived early on Fireseek 21, and was shocked and horrified to find Shanks dead. Duke eased his fears and told their manager to fetch a scroll from the Temple of Obad-Hai. Ekaym did as he was asked and returned with the scroll and requisite materials. In a small ceremony lasting ten minutes, Duke summoned the spirit of Shanks back to the mortal world and into a corporeal vessel. After about a half hour a human woman staggered into the group, proclaiming herself the reincarnated Shanks. The heroes were a little confused, but got over their hesitation quickly as they prepared for the match against Madtooth the Hungry.
They were brought up to the arena floor as normal, where the crowd started chanting "MADTOOTH! MADTOOTH! MADTOOTH!" A large wheeled cage was brought forth bearing the beast's name, and the handlers fled quickly as the locks were undone. What was revealed was NOT a frost salamander but a creature borne out of nightmares. A beast Argo identified as a froghemoth.
Madtooth was a tentacled beast with a maw of razor sharp teeth and a massive belly that looked like it could swallow several people whole. It leaped forward closer to its prey, mindlessly charging. Argo pulled a bead from his necklace of fireballs, hoping that the beast was vulnerable to fire. To their dismay, they found Madtooth actually grew stronger from the fire. Clearly the information they had learned the previous night had been a setup.
The new Shanks strode forward confidently and whipped the beast with her spiked chain. The froghemoth shouted in rage and the rest of the party breathed a small sigh of relief - at least the beast could be hurt. Their relief turned to horror as they watched Madtooth's tentacles wrap around Shanks, squeeze her ribcage together, and then swallow her in one mighty gulp. Madtooth let out a mighty belch as Shanks was digested and crushed by the beast's powerful stomach acids and muscles.
Dric "Shanks" Dair'Rill, female human fighter and rogue, died (again) on Fireseek 21 in the belly of the froghemoth, Madtooth the Hungry.
The rest of the party approached cautiously, with Kaspar letting loose a few arrows. Kong and Argo charged together, and the two of them cut deep into the beast. Unfortunately, the retaliatory strikes from Madtooth wounded the pair severely, with the raging barbarian taking the brunt of the pain. In the blink of his three eyes, the froghemoth sent Kong sprawling to the ground unconscious and grabbed Argo in a tentacle and swallowed him in one bite.
Duke let loose a lightning bolt spell, noting with some satisfaction that it seemed to slow the beast considerably. The dwarf wizard approached the fallen barbarian in the froghemoth's momentary slowness and stabilized his companion. He then took tentacle whips to the face as Madtooth recovered.
Inside the massive creature, however, Argo was not done for. The acidic juices ate at him and the powerful muscles crushed him, but he was a master of the daggers. With precision and grace that came from knowledge of fighting these types of beasts, the halfling ranger quickly slashed a hole in Madtooth's side, emerging like a triumphant newborn from the gaping hole. The crowd gave a rousing cheer of "ARGO! ARGO! ARGO!" at this that matched Madtooth's raging bellow.
Kaspar risked the slashing tentacles and dropped a potion of healing down Kong's throat, which managed to revive him. Duke was beaten and near unconscious, but the barbarian decided enough was enough. Under the threat of a flashing greatsword, cutting daggers, and flown arrows, the froghemoth Madtooth the Hungry finally fell to the ground with a crash! "KINGS OF THE ROAD!" came the roar of the crowd, and the entire party saw Loris Raknian's look of utter shock and frustration at this turn of events.
The Kings of the Road were congratulated, but they mourned for their fallen friend. Auric's Warband had defeated the Iron Hill Monkeys, so the final match was set. The heroes were exhausted and wounded from their draining battle with Madtooth, but questions stood before them. What lay inside the secret chamber that claimed the life of their companion? And what was in store for them on the final day of the Champion's Games?
Session Updates
All right, good session, good session. I've never actually seen a character die TWICE in one evening. Tragic, truly tragic. We'll see what Jesse brings to the table at the beginning of the next session.
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Investigate Loris Raknian and Apostolic Scrolls
* Find Out What Happened to Ekaym's Sister
XP Recap
* 9th-level Characters 6,000
* 10th-level Character 2,500
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Fireseek 21, 595 CY
Still bound to the Coenoby of the Free City Arena, the heroes have completed the first day of gladiator competitions in the Champion's Games - and have learned a startling truth. Their manager, Ekaym Smallcask, has informed his team of an ulterior motive in sponsoring them. His sister, Lahaka, disappeared immediately after last year's games, and the only places Ekaym has not searched is the infrastructure of the arena itself and Loris Raknian's adjoining palace.
Exhausted after their first battle, the heroes were nonetheless eager to search out the infrastructure to see what they could find. The lower level where the Coenoby was seemed to be a series of caverns, and a passage led away into the darkness. With Shanks leading the way the party descended further into the caves. They came upon a larger, rougher version of the Coenoby called the Titan's House, used occasionally by gladiators for more secretive and carnal pursuits. Kaspar found a pool at the far end of the abandoned chamber, and an odd stone plug at the far end underwater. The stone plug was clearly manufactured.
The heroes started to argue about what to do, and Shanks was determined to unplug the plug and find out what lay behind it. Duke remembered hearing stories of the Free City Arena being plagued by ghouls, and that Loris Raknian had the ghoul warrens sealed shut with a large stone plug some years ago. The idea of fighting a city filled with flesh-craving ghouls did not sit well with anyone, and they returned to the Coenoby determined to search the upper level.
Guards were light on the first night, and the party easily slipped upstairs to the main level just below the arena floor. The stoneworked passages were constructed in a circular fashion, with lifts going up to the arena itself in the four cardinal directions of the circle. A series of chambers criss-crossed the middle section, and it was this way that the heroes ventured.
The first passage they followed contained caged animals - dire boars, jaguars, and lions, presumably for showcasing on the next day (where there were no gladiator fights scheduled). It was at this point that Kong realized that this was a bad idea. If they were caught sneaking around, they would likely get thrown out of the games. Duke seconded the idea, and suggested that Shanks and Argo explore the section alone, since they were the most stealthy. The heroes agreed, and Duke loaned Argo his hat of disguise to disguise the halfling in case they were caught. Shanks drank his potion of invisibility and the rest of the party returned to the Coenoby.
Argo and Shanks made their way stealthily through the passages, coming upon the recreation room of the eight stationed guards. Past that room was another hallway, similar to the animal cages, but these were mostly empty. Except for a dirty, bedraggled man, rocking back and forth on his knees. Argo asked what was the matter, and the man could barely string a sentence together, but seemed to be muttering something about the cell across the hall. The halfling ranger asked what happened, and could only get a muttering of "goat man" and a finger pointing at the far cell, where it seemed the "goat man" was still waiting. Shanks checked it out and find it to be a wine storage chamber that smelled strongly of vinegar.
Shanks mentioned the word "worm" to the man on a whim, and it had a dramatic effect. The insane man started screaming at the top of his lungs, clawing at the bars frantically. The two halflings could hear the guards approach and knew question and answer time was over. They darted into the shadows and crept back to the Coenoby, but they had a bit more information to go off now. Something was in that wine cellar, and Shanks was determined to find out what.
The next day, Fireseek 19, was the bi-day where no gladiator combat would take place. Of course, the gladiators were once again limited to the Coenoby. Guards were posted at the entrance, so the Kings of the Road kept to themselves like everyone else. There were a total of six teams left - Kings of the Road, Auric's Warband, Iron Hill Monkeys, Pitch Blade, The Crazy Eights, and the Teeth of Kord. All teams were silent and brooding.
After the day's events were through, Shanks and Argo snuck up to the upper floor and made their way stealthily towards the cells. They found all of the cells empty now - the insane man was nowhere to be found. They moved on to search the wine cellar, with one of the halflings on guard while the other scoured the room. They didn't find anything out of the ordinary, but Shanks was convinced there was something there. The two of them returned to the Coenoby.
Fireseek 20 arrived, the third day of the Champion's Games, and matches were posted early. Kings of the Road were scheduled to fight Pitch Blade as the last match of the day. After seeing that Pitch Blade was comprised entirely of two dwarven barbarians, Kong laughed and declared they had all but won their match already. Confidence levels were high by the time they were brought up to the arena floor, to the grand cheering of the crowd.
Opposite them were Pitch Blade - two well-armed, barrel-chested dwarves carrying shields and shouting furiously. The match began with Loris Raknian's pronouncement, and immediately Pitch Blade flew at their opponents. Literally flew - they were flying at top speeds to close the vast distance of the arena floor. Everyone gathered around Duke and the dwarf cast haste, preparing everyone for the fight ahead. Kaspar ducked off to the side and shot an arrow while Kong strode forward purposefully, attacking as he did so.
The dwarves of Pitch Blade were not impressed, and the one cut bloody swaths in his barbarian opponent. The crowd cheered as the other dwarf stepped forward and started to pummel Argo with a flaming bastard sword. The Kings of the Road returned blows but it was obvious their opponents were tougher than they realized. Shanks maneuvered to position himself in a better spot, when the unthinkable happened - mighty Kong, even in the depths of his barbarian rage, dropped to the ground from his wounds. Things were not looking so well and Argo was forced to withdraw to suck down some potions.
But Shanks had an idea, an idea so crazy it had to work. He shouted to get Kaspar's attention and then used his spiked chain to attempt to disarm the dwarf that felled Kong. The first attempt the dwarf parried, but the second whip of the chain wrapped around the sword and knocked it from his raging hands. At that moment, the elf monk ran with the speed of a lightning cheetah, tucked and rolled as he passed the stunned dwarf, and leapt to his feet - holding the dwarf's fallen flaming sword! The crowd gave a rousing cheer as Kaspar held the sword aloft like a giant torch. The other dwarf in Pitch Blade disengaged from Argo and flew after the elf. Tunnel vision set in and all he could see was Kaspar. But the elf monk's blinding speed kept him ahead of his opponent as he led him on a merry chase around the arena.
The disarmed dwarf proceeded to use his shield to bash Shanks, but soon found the clever halfling had used the spiked chain to rid him of his shield as well! Kong was revived by Duke, and the Kings of the Road dispatched the unarmed raging dwarf barbarian with relative ease at that point. The second dwarf charged headfirst at Kaspar and managed to cut the elf deep, but found himself weaponless when Shanks came up and used his disarm attack again. Kong finished off the second dwarf barbarian to the roar of the crowd! "KINGS! KINGS! KINGS!" they shouted.
Argo caught the look of surprise and anger on Loris Raknian's face, and made a gesture with his dagger that could have been construed as a threat. But the Champion's Game organizer was cordial when he presented the winnings to Ekaym and the Kings of the Road were led back to the Coenoby. Ekaym visited them shortly thereafter, bringing potions a plenty and congratulations.
The gladiator teams were reduced to three after the third day - Kings of the Road, Auric's Warband, and Iron Hill Monkeys. The next day's matches were also posted when they returned, and the heroes were surprised to find that they were the ones fighting the monster, a creatured called Madtooth the Hungry. One of the guards posting the match list commented on how hard it was to keep Madtooth's cage cold, and how glad they would be once they were able to return the frost salamander to the cold northlands. The heroes took this information and started to prepare for the next day's competition accordingly, prepping fire spells and other heat attacks.
Later in the evening, Shanks and Argo decided to test their luck with the wine cellar again. They snuck upstairs and into the cellar, and Argo was placed on watch while Shanks searched the room. It would be the last time anyone saw the halfling Shanks alive.
While searching the room, Shanks finally found the secret chamber he knew was there. But his erstwhile searching triggered a nefarious magical glyph of warding that gripped at his heart. The halfling was not strong enough to resist and fell, stone dead, to the slay living spell. Argo found Shanks laying face first on the stone slab in front of a secret panel, revealing a staircase going down.
Dric "Shanks" Dair'Rill, male halfling fighter and rogue, died on Fireseek 20 to a slay living spell from a trap.
As quietly as he could, Argo dragged the dead body of his companion back down to the Coenoby where they discussed what to do. It was too late for Ekaym to return to the grounds this night, and they would not have much time in the morning to deal with situation. After much discussion (and checking of pocket books, which were not hefty) Duke suggested that they use the druidic ritual of reincarnation to return Shanks back to the world of the living. He might not come back as a halfling, but he would definitely come back. They decided that was the best idea, and waited patiently for the next day.
Ekaym arrived early on Fireseek 21, and was shocked and horrified to find Shanks dead. Duke eased his fears and told their manager to fetch a scroll from the Temple of Obad-Hai. Ekaym did as he was asked and returned with the scroll and requisite materials. In a small ceremony lasting ten minutes, Duke summoned the spirit of Shanks back to the mortal world and into a corporeal vessel. After about a half hour a human woman staggered into the group, proclaiming herself the reincarnated Shanks. The heroes were a little confused, but got over their hesitation quickly as they prepared for the match against Madtooth the Hungry.
They were brought up to the arena floor as normal, where the crowd started chanting "MADTOOTH! MADTOOTH! MADTOOTH!" A large wheeled cage was brought forth bearing the beast's name, and the handlers fled quickly as the locks were undone. What was revealed was NOT a frost salamander but a creature borne out of nightmares. A beast Argo identified as a froghemoth.
Madtooth was a tentacled beast with a maw of razor sharp teeth and a massive belly that looked like it could swallow several people whole. It leaped forward closer to its prey, mindlessly charging. Argo pulled a bead from his necklace of fireballs, hoping that the beast was vulnerable to fire. To their dismay, they found Madtooth actually grew stronger from the fire. Clearly the information they had learned the previous night had been a setup.
The new Shanks strode forward confidently and whipped the beast with her spiked chain. The froghemoth shouted in rage and the rest of the party breathed a small sigh of relief - at least the beast could be hurt. Their relief turned to horror as they watched Madtooth's tentacles wrap around Shanks, squeeze her ribcage together, and then swallow her in one mighty gulp. Madtooth let out a mighty belch as Shanks was digested and crushed by the beast's powerful stomach acids and muscles.
Dric "Shanks" Dair'Rill, female human fighter and rogue, died (again) on Fireseek 21 in the belly of the froghemoth, Madtooth the Hungry.
The rest of the party approached cautiously, with Kaspar letting loose a few arrows. Kong and Argo charged together, and the two of them cut deep into the beast. Unfortunately, the retaliatory strikes from Madtooth wounded the pair severely, with the raging barbarian taking the brunt of the pain. In the blink of his three eyes, the froghemoth sent Kong sprawling to the ground unconscious and grabbed Argo in a tentacle and swallowed him in one bite.
Duke let loose a lightning bolt spell, noting with some satisfaction that it seemed to slow the beast considerably. The dwarf wizard approached the fallen barbarian in the froghemoth's momentary slowness and stabilized his companion. He then took tentacle whips to the face as Madtooth recovered.
Inside the massive creature, however, Argo was not done for. The acidic juices ate at him and the powerful muscles crushed him, but he was a master of the daggers. With precision and grace that came from knowledge of fighting these types of beasts, the halfling ranger quickly slashed a hole in Madtooth's side, emerging like a triumphant newborn from the gaping hole. The crowd gave a rousing cheer of "ARGO! ARGO! ARGO!" at this that matched Madtooth's raging bellow.
Kaspar risked the slashing tentacles and dropped a potion of healing down Kong's throat, which managed to revive him. Duke was beaten and near unconscious, but the barbarian decided enough was enough. Under the threat of a flashing greatsword, cutting daggers, and flown arrows, the froghemoth Madtooth the Hungry finally fell to the ground with a crash! "KINGS OF THE ROAD!" came the roar of the crowd, and the entire party saw Loris Raknian's look of utter shock and frustration at this turn of events.
The Kings of the Road were congratulated, but they mourned for their fallen friend. Auric's Warband had defeated the Iron Hill Monkeys, so the final match was set. The heroes were exhausted and wounded from their draining battle with Madtooth, but questions stood before them. What lay inside the secret chamber that claimed the life of their companion? And what was in store for them on the final day of the Champion's Games?
Session Updates
All right, good session, good session. I've never actually seen a character die TWICE in one evening. Tragic, truly tragic. We'll see what Jesse brings to the table at the beginning of the next session.
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Investigate Loris Raknian and Apostolic Scrolls
* Find Out What Happened to Ekaym's Sister
XP Recap
* 9th-level Characters 6,000
* 10th-level Character 2,500
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Age of Worms Campaign Update 1/17/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20080117, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Fireseek 18, 595 CY
On Fireseek 7, the heroes were invited to home of Eligos the Sage, who was contracted by the companions to research the writhing green worms and reports of unkillable zombies. The heroes arrived at Eligos' home promptly, and enjoyed a fine meal of turducken over pleasant conversation. As the meal drew to a close, Argo mentioned the mind flayer Xyrzog's sale of something called the Apostolic Scrolls to Loris Raknian. Eligos visibly paled at this, excusing himself from the table with haste and retreated to the library.
The heroes finished their meal in silence, and joined Eligos in the library shortly thereafter. By the light of the fire Eligos explained what he had learned about the green worms and tales of a coming apocalypse.
* The green worms, and zombies that carried them, were known as spawns of Kyuss - terrible undead killing machines that spread their curse by way of the worms. The humanoid spawns of Kyuss the heroes had encountered at Blackwall Keep were only the lesser versions. Stronger variants were known to exist.
* Kyuss is a lesser known god of undeath and the mastery of the undead - his cult was usually small and sometimes attached to larger organizations, such as the faithful of Hextor, Nerull, or Vecna.
* Referenced in dozens of texts going back hundreds of years, on cave walls and in obscure references, are whispers of an oncoming apocalypse of great magnitude. Called by many names (such as the End Times and the Era of Desolation), this momentous event seems linked somehow to Kyuss through the older referenced Age of Worms. Books such as Libris Mortis, the Necronomicon, and the Apostolic Scrolls all tell of this coming age of death, destruction, madness, and chaos. All of Eligos' research indicates this Age of Worms is fast approaching.
The heroes informed the sage that Loris Raknian had hired Xyrzog to assassinate them, and that the same Loris had purchased the Apostolic Scrolls beforehand. Eligos pointed out that Raknian must be part of the Kyuss cult, though whether he's the leader or simply a puppet remains to be seen. The Apostolic Scrolls were penned by Kyuss himself when he was a mortal, and detail the summoning of the Apostle of Kyuss. More commonly referred to as an ulgurstasta, this creature was a massive, bloated worm capable of swallowing people whole and spewing them out as zombies. There have been tales of some ulgurstastas vomiting forth spawns of Kyuss as well.
All of these details pointed to one terrifying fact - the cult of Kyuss was alive and well in the Free City of Greyhawk, and they had pinpointed the companions as a threat. Loris Raknian was the only firm lead they had, but it was a difficult one to follow-up on. Raknian is a powerful figure in the city, with ties back to the Directing Oligarchy and many influential guilds. Confronting him directly would only force him to cash in whatever favors he had. This would pose a problem but for one fact - Loris Raknian is in charge of the Champion's Games, a gladiatorial festival set to start in ten days. With his attention turned towards the event's organization and promotion, the heroes may have the opportunity they need to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.
Eligos smiled and said that the fates might just be smiling on them. A few days ago, he was visited by an adventuring friend, who was asking if the sage knew any competent people interested in fighting in the Champion's Games. The heroes thought about it and decided that joining the gladiator games was the easiest way to get to the bottom of things. Eligos promised he would put them in touch with his friend named Celeste in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, he advised keeping a low profile. Duke mentioned they had an appointment with the Lord-Mayor regarding the doppelgangers that have infiltrated the government, but Eligos stronger encouraged them to not present that information directly. He volunteered to handle the details, and promised that if there were any rewards he would pass them on completely.
With the evenings events drawn to a close, Eligos bid them a good night. The heroes returned to the Crooked House, almost supernaturally aware of a constant presence staring at them from the shadows. Probably just their imaginations. Probably.
The next few days the companions heeded the sage's advice. Duke penned several scrolls and created some alchemical items, while the rest of the heroes hung around the common room or ducked out for a quick stop at a shop. On Fireseek 9 a beautiful platinum-haired woman entered the Crooked House, accompanied by a short but relatively pleasant man. She quickly found the heroes and introduced herself as Celeste, Eligos' friend. She introduced the man next to her as Ekaym Smallcask, a merchant from the south who had acquired a manager's license for the Champion's Games but had no champions to enter.
Ekaym stepped up and smiled at the gathered companions, asking them point blank if they would fight for him in the gladiator arena. Ekaym also explained the general proceedings and possible winnings before they made their decision.
The Champion's Games was a massive gladiatorial event lasting five days. Twenty-four teams compete and only one wins the final round. The night before the games begin is the Champion's Dinner, where merchants and managers can meet the teams and place bets. The first day consisted of six team battles, with four teams pitted against each other in a battle royale. The six winnners of that day continued on, but the second day was one of rest - no gladiator combats. The third day featured three team-on-team matches. The fourth day consisted of two large matches, with one featuring two of the teams against each other and the other pitting a team against a monster. Usually the honor of fighting the monster went the previous year's winners. The two teams who were victorious fought each other in a knock-down, drag-out battle free-for-all on the fifth day, the winners being declared as Champions!
Kaspar pointed that this was all well and good, but what about payment? Ekaym proposed the following: he would 50% and the team would split the remaining 50%. With the help of his companions, the elf monk pointed out that this was not at all logical, and managed to get the flamboyant man to come to a 40/60 split. After Kong flexed his muscles, Ekaym and the heroes settled on equal shares split six ways.
The next point of contention was the name of the gladiator team. Ekaym suggested Ekaym's Team, which was immediately rejected, along with series of ridiculous, outlandish, or arrogant names suggested by everyone. They eventually settled on the Kings of the Road as their team name.
With arrangements made, Ekaym thanked the heroes and told them to arrive at the Free City Arena on Fireseek 17 by 5:00 pm - that was the start of the Champion's Dinner. From that point on they would be restricted to the arena grounds, so they should prepare accordingly. With a bow and a flourish, their manager left. Celeste had departed at some point during negotiations.
The next seven days passed slowly for the companions. They kept their heads down, always fearful of retributive strikes from the powerful Raknian. But thankfully none came, and eventually Fireseek 17 - the day of the Champion's Dinner - arrived.
Arriving in full battle gear, the heroes were not out of place. All sorts of gladiators were gathered around the banquet tables set in the grand Free City Arena itself, from the traditional dwarves, barbarians, archers, and wizards, to traditional monsters, such as gnolls and animals. The heroes met up with Ekaym quickly, and were introduced to a multitude of merchants and government officials, all of whom seemed to have an eye on them for betting purposes. Amongst the people mingling around were the legendary heroes Loncer Amorocco and Rugrunt Garoul, who were guests of Raknian and would be performing on the second day of the games.
During the festivities, Argo noticed Ekaym's attention always seemed intently focused on Loris Raknian, the charismatic organizer and previous Champion's Game winner also attending the event. Kaspar noted that Loris' eye seemed to drift towards their own table, but only briefly. He clearly was aware of their presence but did nothing untoward his status during the evening's events.
As the evening drew on, Shanks was approached by a beautiful elven woman in a leather bustier. She introduced herself as Vivian, and indicated that a certain organization (*wink, wink*) was interested in making a large wager on the final match, and they picked the heroes' team to win. The previous year's winners was a team called Auric's Band, and they would very likely make it to the final match as well. If the heroes would put 2,500 gp up front and win the match, this guild would give them a return of 10,000 gp. Vivian also indicated that taking this wager would be a good way to join this guild, something Shanks had attempted to do initially upon entering Greyhawk.
The halfling took the offer to his companions. Duke, Kong, and Argo decided to take the bet (Shanks was too poor and Kaspar was saving up his coins), and they ponied up the dough to make the wager. Argo also placed all of his remaining coins on their team to win the first match.
Around midnight, the moderator of the Champion's Games put on a pyrotechnics and fireworks show that dazzled all attendees. Loris Raknian announced the games had begun in a large, booming voice, and the gladiators were ushered into the arena underground. The underground consisted of two levels - the first, just below the arena itself, was a well-maintained series of chambers for managers and other important people. The level below that was cut into the caverns and consisted primarily of the Coenby (pronounced "see-no-bee"), where the gladiators were taken. This was the chamber where the teams would rest and spend the next five days. Security was tight, and the heroes learned that Raknian's palace was attached to the arena grounds on the upper level.
The night passed relatively uneventfully, and the next day the matches were posted on the wall. The Kings of the Road were set to fight at 10:00 am against three other teams. The first was Arcane Auriga, a team of four elven woman who specialized in archery. They were icy and cold to everyone, but especially seemed to hate men. The second team was Badlands Revenge, which had an angry druid and two gnolls with halberds. They were likewise silent towards everyone. The third team was Azure Riders, and the leader of this team was a flamboyant janni of a boisterous and womanizing nature. He approached the heroes with a proposition - him and his team of mounted mercenaries would focus on the women of Arcane Auriga if the heroes started with Badlands Revenge. That way they can focus on one team at a time.
The heroes were leary but accepted the proposal. The appointed time came and the gladiator teams were ushered up to the top level and positioned at each side of the arena. The stands of the Free City Arena were packed with thousands of spectators, and the announcer - enhanced though he was by magic - could barely be heard over the roar of the crowd. Each team was introduced and brought up to the blood-stained sands of the arena in turn. Loris Raknian announced the match had begun and a gong rang out. The four teams surged forward to meet in the blood-thirsty combat.
The mounted warriors of Azure Riders made ride-by attacks on Arcane Auriga but it was clear they were outmatched. The Kings of the Road, enhanced by a haste spell cast by Duke, charged fearlessly forward towards Badlands Revenge. Kaspar let arrows fly from his bow while Kong charged, his icy greatsword flashing in the morning light. Argo and Shanks followed right behind.
The druid in charge of Badlands Revenge gave a mighty shout, matched by Kong's feral raging roar. The barbarian cut his opponent deep, but the return blows from the twin gnolls and their halberds cut him deep. Argo and Kaspar teamed off against one of the gnolls just as Kong raised his greatsword and cut the druid deep. Roaring in response, he morphed into a giant crocodile and took a chunk out of Kong's hide. Duke rained magic missiles from a safe distance.
In the firm grips of his inhuman barbarian rage, Kong cleft his crocodile opponent with the mighty swing, spraying blood in a hot arc. The crowd went nuts, and they leapt to their feet when the barbarian brought his still-bloody greatsword in a spin and cut the head off the second gnoll. Argo and Kaspar finished off the other gnoll easily and the crowd started to chant "KINGS! KINGS! KINGS!" The heroes relished the rush of adrenaline for but a moment.
On the other side of the arena the Azure Riders were getting pounded on by Arcane Auriga. One of the mercenary riders galloped towards the heroes, and Kong saw an opportunity. He charged and made a mighty leap, intent on tackling the rider, but instead wound up with a face full of sand. Shanks was thereto pick up the slack, however, and the halfling gave a tiny roar, leapt onto the back of Kong, and drove himself straight into the mercenary rider's flank. The two of them tumbled head over tails on the sand, and the unmounted horse galloped away.
The Azure Riders surrendered at that moment, realizing they were outmatched, so the Kings of the Road turned their attention towards Arcane Auriga. The heroes were peppered with well-placed arrows, but when the fight was brought to melee the elven women didn't stand a chance. Kaspar, whipped up by the frenzy of the crowd, drove his fist into the jaw of one of the woman, killing her instantly. The other three surrendered immediately afterward. The Kings of the Road were proclaimed victors!
In the announcer's booth, Ekaym was presented with the trophy and coin reward from Loris Raknian while the heroes were led downstairs to the chants of "KINGS! KINGS! KINGS!" They collapsed, wounded and exhausted but ultimately victorious, in the Coenby. Other teams came and went as the day passed on, and after the final match was done the heroes were visited by Ekaym.
In a hushed tone, Ekaym congratulated the heroes on a job well done, but admitted a secondary motive in entering the games. His sister, Lahaka, was a traveling entertainer that disappeared immediately after last year's Champion's Games. All his attempts to divine her fate have met with failure, so his quest brought him to Greyhawk itself. Asking around, it seems Lahaka and Loris became lovers, and that the arena manager took her as his consort for a time. Then - nothing. She was never seen after last year's games and Ekaym belives Loris had something to do with it. But he's exhausted every avenue of research available to him, and pleaded with the heroes to search for any evidence of his sister in the arena underground. He promised to give them his share of the winnings if they would only try.
The heroes agreed, and Ekaym brought them potions of healing from the nearby temple. The first day of the Champion's Games drew to a close on Fireseek 18, but it seems the heroes' journey had only just taken a new turn.
Campaign Updates
Alright, sorry about the delay on this one. Nothing much to update here, though, so I'll just move on.
I'll post the details of Quest Cards and XP later today.
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Fireseek 18, 595 CY
On Fireseek 7, the heroes were invited to home of Eligos the Sage, who was contracted by the companions to research the writhing green worms and reports of unkillable zombies. The heroes arrived at Eligos' home promptly, and enjoyed a fine meal of turducken over pleasant conversation. As the meal drew to a close, Argo mentioned the mind flayer Xyrzog's sale of something called the Apostolic Scrolls to Loris Raknian. Eligos visibly paled at this, excusing himself from the table with haste and retreated to the library.
The heroes finished their meal in silence, and joined Eligos in the library shortly thereafter. By the light of the fire Eligos explained what he had learned about the green worms and tales of a coming apocalypse.
* The green worms, and zombies that carried them, were known as spawns of Kyuss - terrible undead killing machines that spread their curse by way of the worms. The humanoid spawns of Kyuss the heroes had encountered at Blackwall Keep were only the lesser versions. Stronger variants were known to exist.
* Kyuss is a lesser known god of undeath and the mastery of the undead - his cult was usually small and sometimes attached to larger organizations, such as the faithful of Hextor, Nerull, or Vecna.
* Referenced in dozens of texts going back hundreds of years, on cave walls and in obscure references, are whispers of an oncoming apocalypse of great magnitude. Called by many names (such as the End Times and the Era of Desolation), this momentous event seems linked somehow to Kyuss through the older referenced Age of Worms. Books such as Libris Mortis, the Necronomicon, and the Apostolic Scrolls all tell of this coming age of death, destruction, madness, and chaos. All of Eligos' research indicates this Age of Worms is fast approaching.
The heroes informed the sage that Loris Raknian had hired Xyrzog to assassinate them, and that the same Loris had purchased the Apostolic Scrolls beforehand. Eligos pointed out that Raknian must be part of the Kyuss cult, though whether he's the leader or simply a puppet remains to be seen. The Apostolic Scrolls were penned by Kyuss himself when he was a mortal, and detail the summoning of the Apostle of Kyuss. More commonly referred to as an ulgurstasta, this creature was a massive, bloated worm capable of swallowing people whole and spewing them out as zombies. There have been tales of some ulgurstastas vomiting forth spawns of Kyuss as well.
All of these details pointed to one terrifying fact - the cult of Kyuss was alive and well in the Free City of Greyhawk, and they had pinpointed the companions as a threat. Loris Raknian was the only firm lead they had, but it was a difficult one to follow-up on. Raknian is a powerful figure in the city, with ties back to the Directing Oligarchy and many influential guilds. Confronting him directly would only force him to cash in whatever favors he had. This would pose a problem but for one fact - Loris Raknian is in charge of the Champion's Games, a gladiatorial festival set to start in ten days. With his attention turned towards the event's organization and promotion, the heroes may have the opportunity they need to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.
Eligos smiled and said that the fates might just be smiling on them. A few days ago, he was visited by an adventuring friend, who was asking if the sage knew any competent people interested in fighting in the Champion's Games. The heroes thought about it and decided that joining the gladiator games was the easiest way to get to the bottom of things. Eligos promised he would put them in touch with his friend named Celeste in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, he advised keeping a low profile. Duke mentioned they had an appointment with the Lord-Mayor regarding the doppelgangers that have infiltrated the government, but Eligos stronger encouraged them to not present that information directly. He volunteered to handle the details, and promised that if there were any rewards he would pass them on completely.
With the evenings events drawn to a close, Eligos bid them a good night. The heroes returned to the Crooked House, almost supernaturally aware of a constant presence staring at them from the shadows. Probably just their imaginations. Probably.
The next few days the companions heeded the sage's advice. Duke penned several scrolls and created some alchemical items, while the rest of the heroes hung around the common room or ducked out for a quick stop at a shop. On Fireseek 9 a beautiful platinum-haired woman entered the Crooked House, accompanied by a short but relatively pleasant man. She quickly found the heroes and introduced herself as Celeste, Eligos' friend. She introduced the man next to her as Ekaym Smallcask, a merchant from the south who had acquired a manager's license for the Champion's Games but had no champions to enter.
Ekaym stepped up and smiled at the gathered companions, asking them point blank if they would fight for him in the gladiator arena. Ekaym also explained the general proceedings and possible winnings before they made their decision.
The Champion's Games was a massive gladiatorial event lasting five days. Twenty-four teams compete and only one wins the final round. The night before the games begin is the Champion's Dinner, where merchants and managers can meet the teams and place bets. The first day consisted of six team battles, with four teams pitted against each other in a battle royale. The six winnners of that day continued on, but the second day was one of rest - no gladiator combats. The third day featured three team-on-team matches. The fourth day consisted of two large matches, with one featuring two of the teams against each other and the other pitting a team against a monster. Usually the honor of fighting the monster went the previous year's winners. The two teams who were victorious fought each other in a knock-down, drag-out battle free-for-all on the fifth day, the winners being declared as Champions!
Kaspar pointed that this was all well and good, but what about payment? Ekaym proposed the following: he would 50% and the team would split the remaining 50%. With the help of his companions, the elf monk pointed out that this was not at all logical, and managed to get the flamboyant man to come to a 40/60 split. After Kong flexed his muscles, Ekaym and the heroes settled on equal shares split six ways.
The next point of contention was the name of the gladiator team. Ekaym suggested Ekaym's Team, which was immediately rejected, along with series of ridiculous, outlandish, or arrogant names suggested by everyone. They eventually settled on the Kings of the Road as their team name.
With arrangements made, Ekaym thanked the heroes and told them to arrive at the Free City Arena on Fireseek 17 by 5:00 pm - that was the start of the Champion's Dinner. From that point on they would be restricted to the arena grounds, so they should prepare accordingly. With a bow and a flourish, their manager left. Celeste had departed at some point during negotiations.
The next seven days passed slowly for the companions. They kept their heads down, always fearful of retributive strikes from the powerful Raknian. But thankfully none came, and eventually Fireseek 17 - the day of the Champion's Dinner - arrived.
Arriving in full battle gear, the heroes were not out of place. All sorts of gladiators were gathered around the banquet tables set in the grand Free City Arena itself, from the traditional dwarves, barbarians, archers, and wizards, to traditional monsters, such as gnolls and animals. The heroes met up with Ekaym quickly, and were introduced to a multitude of merchants and government officials, all of whom seemed to have an eye on them for betting purposes. Amongst the people mingling around were the legendary heroes Loncer Amorocco and Rugrunt Garoul, who were guests of Raknian and would be performing on the second day of the games.
During the festivities, Argo noticed Ekaym's attention always seemed intently focused on Loris Raknian, the charismatic organizer and previous Champion's Game winner also attending the event. Kaspar noted that Loris' eye seemed to drift towards their own table, but only briefly. He clearly was aware of their presence but did nothing untoward his status during the evening's events.
As the evening drew on, Shanks was approached by a beautiful elven woman in a leather bustier. She introduced herself as Vivian, and indicated that a certain organization (*wink, wink*) was interested in making a large wager on the final match, and they picked the heroes' team to win. The previous year's winners was a team called Auric's Band, and they would very likely make it to the final match as well. If the heroes would put 2,500 gp up front and win the match, this guild would give them a return of 10,000 gp. Vivian also indicated that taking this wager would be a good way to join this guild, something Shanks had attempted to do initially upon entering Greyhawk.
The halfling took the offer to his companions. Duke, Kong, and Argo decided to take the bet (Shanks was too poor and Kaspar was saving up his coins), and they ponied up the dough to make the wager. Argo also placed all of his remaining coins on their team to win the first match.
Around midnight, the moderator of the Champion's Games put on a pyrotechnics and fireworks show that dazzled all attendees. Loris Raknian announced the games had begun in a large, booming voice, and the gladiators were ushered into the arena underground. The underground consisted of two levels - the first, just below the arena itself, was a well-maintained series of chambers for managers and other important people. The level below that was cut into the caverns and consisted primarily of the Coenby (pronounced "see-no-bee"), where the gladiators were taken. This was the chamber where the teams would rest and spend the next five days. Security was tight, and the heroes learned that Raknian's palace was attached to the arena grounds on the upper level.
The night passed relatively uneventfully, and the next day the matches were posted on the wall. The Kings of the Road were set to fight at 10:00 am against three other teams. The first was Arcane Auriga, a team of four elven woman who specialized in archery. They were icy and cold to everyone, but especially seemed to hate men. The second team was Badlands Revenge, which had an angry druid and two gnolls with halberds. They were likewise silent towards everyone. The third team was Azure Riders, and the leader of this team was a flamboyant janni of a boisterous and womanizing nature. He approached the heroes with a proposition - him and his team of mounted mercenaries would focus on the women of Arcane Auriga if the heroes started with Badlands Revenge. That way they can focus on one team at a time.
The heroes were leary but accepted the proposal. The appointed time came and the gladiator teams were ushered up to the top level and positioned at each side of the arena. The stands of the Free City Arena were packed with thousands of spectators, and the announcer - enhanced though he was by magic - could barely be heard over the roar of the crowd. Each team was introduced and brought up to the blood-stained sands of the arena in turn. Loris Raknian announced the match had begun and a gong rang out. The four teams surged forward to meet in the blood-thirsty combat.
The mounted warriors of Azure Riders made ride-by attacks on Arcane Auriga but it was clear they were outmatched. The Kings of the Road, enhanced by a haste spell cast by Duke, charged fearlessly forward towards Badlands Revenge. Kaspar let arrows fly from his bow while Kong charged, his icy greatsword flashing in the morning light. Argo and Shanks followed right behind.
The druid in charge of Badlands Revenge gave a mighty shout, matched by Kong's feral raging roar. The barbarian cut his opponent deep, but the return blows from the twin gnolls and their halberds cut him deep. Argo and Kaspar teamed off against one of the gnolls just as Kong raised his greatsword and cut the druid deep. Roaring in response, he morphed into a giant crocodile and took a chunk out of Kong's hide. Duke rained magic missiles from a safe distance.
In the firm grips of his inhuman barbarian rage, Kong cleft his crocodile opponent with the mighty swing, spraying blood in a hot arc. The crowd went nuts, and they leapt to their feet when the barbarian brought his still-bloody greatsword in a spin and cut the head off the second gnoll. Argo and Kaspar finished off the other gnoll easily and the crowd started to chant "KINGS! KINGS! KINGS!" The heroes relished the rush of adrenaline for but a moment.
On the other side of the arena the Azure Riders were getting pounded on by Arcane Auriga. One of the mercenary riders galloped towards the heroes, and Kong saw an opportunity. He charged and made a mighty leap, intent on tackling the rider, but instead wound up with a face full of sand. Shanks was thereto pick up the slack, however, and the halfling gave a tiny roar, leapt onto the back of Kong, and drove himself straight into the mercenary rider's flank. The two of them tumbled head over tails on the sand, and the unmounted horse galloped away.
The Azure Riders surrendered at that moment, realizing they were outmatched, so the Kings of the Road turned their attention towards Arcane Auriga. The heroes were peppered with well-placed arrows, but when the fight was brought to melee the elven women didn't stand a chance. Kaspar, whipped up by the frenzy of the crowd, drove his fist into the jaw of one of the woman, killing her instantly. The other three surrendered immediately afterward. The Kings of the Road were proclaimed victors!
In the announcer's booth, Ekaym was presented with the trophy and coin reward from Loris Raknian while the heroes were led downstairs to the chants of "KINGS! KINGS! KINGS!" They collapsed, wounded and exhausted but ultimately victorious, in the Coenby. Other teams came and went as the day passed on, and after the final match was done the heroes were visited by Ekaym.
In a hushed tone, Ekaym congratulated the heroes on a job well done, but admitted a secondary motive in entering the games. His sister, Lahaka, was a traveling entertainer that disappeared immediately after last year's Champion's Games. All his attempts to divine her fate have met with failure, so his quest brought him to Greyhawk itself. Asking around, it seems Lahaka and Loris became lovers, and that the arena manager took her as his consort for a time. Then - nothing. She was never seen after last year's games and Ekaym belives Loris had something to do with it. But he's exhausted every avenue of research available to him, and pleaded with the heroes to search for any evidence of his sister in the arena underground. He promised to give them his share of the winnings if they would only try.
The heroes agreed, and Ekaym brought them potions of healing from the nearby temple. The first day of the Champion's Games drew to a close on Fireseek 18, but it seems the heroes' journey had only just taken a new turn.
Campaign Updates
Alright, sorry about the delay on this one. Nothing much to update here, though, so I'll just move on.
I'll post the details of Quest Cards and XP later today.
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
Monday, January 21, 2008
Campaign Roundup: Deadlands Part I
Howdy, pardner. It's been a long while since we last played Deadlands, and even a longer while since we STARTED playing Deadlands. One of my goals this year was to wrap up some of these longer standing campaigns, and I think Deadlands will be the first recipient. I've got my last scenarios planned out and everything, but I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to do a look back at this very rich and entertaining campaign.
First, a very quick overview of the cast of characters. If I miss some details I do apologize, it's just a rough roundup. Just for clarification, I'm starting this roundup with The Mission - that first Deadlands scenario that was successful. There was a previous one to that, involving some coyotes with gazelle legs and a crawling hand that SOMEBODY shot, but we won't go into details about that. It was painful for all involved, mainly because the posse failed.
* Jonny Redd - Indian, killed by the Great Worm of the Glacier in front of the Overlook Hotel on December 22nd, 1877, returned to the world of the living as Harrowed. Been with the posse since the beginning.
* Rufus Prescott - Bounty hunter from Denver, been with the posse since the beginning, lost his arm to Jonny Redd in a haunted Wisconsin cabin on February 18th, 1878. Gained a mechanical arm in Salt Lake City on March 15th, 1878, from flesh-working Dr. Gash.
* Brant Rav - Mad scientist and great lover of explosions, joined the posse in Salt Lake City on July 16th, 1877, for ill-fated Haskins Expedition to the Grand Canyon. Met father (thought dead) on airship above Sacramento on April 1st, 1878, and gained possession of powerful ghost rock bomb.
* Father Charles Guiness - Irish Catholic priest from back east, holy man and faith healer. Skilled with the shotgun, been with the posse since the beginning - it was his mission into Arizona that brought the posse together.
* Corporal Nathan Greaves - Ranking Confederate soldier and Texas Ranger, Harrowed. Joins posse at various points whenever it suits his needs. Skilled gunfighter and nigh impossible to kill (being he's already dead).
* Ranger Ned Alden - Texas Ranger, been with the posse almost since the beginning. He recruited the posse to assist in the recovery of Bayou Vermillion gold on June 19th, 1877, and has shown up every once in a while to ask the posse for favors and to shoot Mexican werewolves.
* Big Momma - Large black woman, gunslinger. Joined posse early on and followed them through many escapades. Eventually met her grisly end in the City o' Ghouls on August 20th, 1877, when she wasn't quick enough to jump backwards.
* "Black" Cat Jones - Joined posse in Grand Canyon caverns, huckster by trade born under a cat's eye moon. She traveled before with the posse before being blown to smithereens by Brant Rav's dynamite blast on December 22nd, 1877, in front of the Overlook Hotel in Denver.
* Jumbiliah Rembasa - Houngan witch doctor and voodoo man from New Orleans, joined posse when they visited the Crescent City on January 20th, 1878, investigating strange murders. Scared nearly to death of fright after seeing the Harrowed Jonny Redd on February 17th, 1878, fled into Wisconsin wilderness after recovering.
* Diego Sanfilipo - Mexican gunslinger and bodyguard from an aristocratic family in Mexico City. Fled country after French invaded.
* Ghost Bear - Aged Cherokee indian shaman of the Bear totem, gathered a new posse to help rid the land of the Night Train (which was full of vampires).
* Agent Mel McGrath - Woman, member of the Agency - shadowy organization that operates under the jurisdiction of the United States of America.
* Shen Lu "Burning Lungs" - Chinese pirate, met up with posse in Shan Fan to help locate missing airship Proletariat.
* Bud Claybourne - United States military deserter from Battle of Little Bighorn, Minnesota native. Lost leg to horrible carriage accident in Sacramento.
* Hamlin Shambler (the Rambling Gambler) - Unscrupulous cardshark and skilled gambler.
* Max Perriwinkel - Reporter for Tombstone Epitaph, met with posse in New Orleans while investigating stories of random murders. Crushed to death by Hangin' Tree in the Louisiana bayou on January 23rd, 1878.
Phew! What a cast of kooky, crazy, or just plain dead characters. I think this is where I'm going to leave it for now - I'll round up the campaign events in a very near future blog. Hell, I might actually print the timeline I've been keeping in my moldy notebook. That is the only reason I have all the dates in order for events.
Let me know if I've forgotten a character who's been involved with the primary campaign. Next up - Campaign Round: Deadlands Part II - the actual campaign!
First, a very quick overview of the cast of characters. If I miss some details I do apologize, it's just a rough roundup. Just for clarification, I'm starting this roundup with The Mission - that first Deadlands scenario that was successful. There was a previous one to that, involving some coyotes with gazelle legs and a crawling hand that SOMEBODY shot, but we won't go into details about that. It was painful for all involved, mainly because the posse failed.
* Jonny Redd - Indian, killed by the Great Worm of the Glacier in front of the Overlook Hotel on December 22nd, 1877, returned to the world of the living as Harrowed. Been with the posse since the beginning.
* Rufus Prescott - Bounty hunter from Denver, been with the posse since the beginning, lost his arm to Jonny Redd in a haunted Wisconsin cabin on February 18th, 1878. Gained a mechanical arm in Salt Lake City on March 15th, 1878, from flesh-working Dr. Gash.
* Brant Rav - Mad scientist and great lover of explosions, joined the posse in Salt Lake City on July 16th, 1877, for ill-fated Haskins Expedition to the Grand Canyon. Met father (thought dead) on airship above Sacramento on April 1st, 1878, and gained possession of powerful ghost rock bomb.
* Father Charles Guiness - Irish Catholic priest from back east, holy man and faith healer. Skilled with the shotgun, been with the posse since the beginning - it was his mission into Arizona that brought the posse together.
* Corporal Nathan Greaves - Ranking Confederate soldier and Texas Ranger, Harrowed. Joins posse at various points whenever it suits his needs. Skilled gunfighter and nigh impossible to kill (being he's already dead).
* Ranger Ned Alden - Texas Ranger, been with the posse almost since the beginning. He recruited the posse to assist in the recovery of Bayou Vermillion gold on June 19th, 1877, and has shown up every once in a while to ask the posse for favors and to shoot Mexican werewolves.
* Big Momma - Large black woman, gunslinger. Joined posse early on and followed them through many escapades. Eventually met her grisly end in the City o' Ghouls on August 20th, 1877, when she wasn't quick enough to jump backwards.
* "Black" Cat Jones - Joined posse in Grand Canyon caverns, huckster by trade born under a cat's eye moon. She traveled before with the posse before being blown to smithereens by Brant Rav's dynamite blast on December 22nd, 1877, in front of the Overlook Hotel in Denver.
* Jumbiliah Rembasa - Houngan witch doctor and voodoo man from New Orleans, joined posse when they visited the Crescent City on January 20th, 1878, investigating strange murders. Scared nearly to death of fright after seeing the Harrowed Jonny Redd on February 17th, 1878, fled into Wisconsin wilderness after recovering.
* Diego Sanfilipo - Mexican gunslinger and bodyguard from an aristocratic family in Mexico City. Fled country after French invaded.
* Ghost Bear - Aged Cherokee indian shaman of the Bear totem, gathered a new posse to help rid the land of the Night Train (which was full of vampires).
* Agent Mel McGrath - Woman, member of the Agency - shadowy organization that operates under the jurisdiction of the United States of America.
* Shen Lu "Burning Lungs" - Chinese pirate, met up with posse in Shan Fan to help locate missing airship Proletariat.
* Bud Claybourne - United States military deserter from Battle of Little Bighorn, Minnesota native. Lost leg to horrible carriage accident in Sacramento.
* Hamlin Shambler (the Rambling Gambler) - Unscrupulous cardshark and skilled gambler.
* Max Perriwinkel - Reporter for Tombstone Epitaph, met with posse in New Orleans while investigating stories of random murders. Crushed to death by Hangin' Tree in the Louisiana bayou on January 23rd, 1878.
Phew! What a cast of kooky, crazy, or just plain dead characters. I think this is where I'm going to leave it for now - I'll round up the campaign events in a very near future blog. Hell, I might actually print the timeline I've been keeping in my moldy notebook. That is the only reason I have all the dates in order for events.
Let me know if I've forgotten a character who's been involved with the primary campaign. Next up - Campaign Round: Deadlands Part II - the actual campaign!
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