Episode 9: 8/2/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/2-2
Haroldur, human cleric/4
Nineve Floret, human knight/4
Sarek, human wizard/4

While we're standing there, sharing a sombre moment over the incredibly foul-smelling ghoul corpse of Ulavant, we suddenly realize we haven't contacted the Cabal since we captured Tares! We elect to inform them of our progress. Also... we're standing in a room filled with dead Seekers-turned-Ghouls, whose remains, such that they are, need to be returned to the Ruby Temple for proper interment. None of us fancies the idea of riding overland for a week on a cart with the rotting corpses of a Seeker squad. We're going to need a collection team. Sarek sends:

"Found Alastor and Ulavant. Ulavant killed, he was a ghoul.
Alastor gravely wounded, need instructions.
Need your blessing to raise dead to help finish orders."

He is answered:

"Good news about Alastor! I expect to hear your full report regarding Ulavant upon your return. What of Ulavant's Seekers? Did you find their remains?"

Sarek replies:

"Seekers were with Ulavant and were corrupted by dark magic.
All were ghouls and were destroyed. We have bodies.
What are your instructions for bodies?"

The reply:

"Will send legionaires to Diamond Lake for the remains of the Seekers. You know the rules regarding the remains of the deceased. We'll talk later."

Meanwhile, we divide the loot we've accumulated so far.
Afterwards, I investigate the large door at the far end of the chamber, and find it to be impassably locked. There is a plate bearing an ornate rune on the center of the door that looks like it must be key to opening it. I take a rubbing of the plate, as well as the available text on the walls of the chamber. In particular, there is a repeating rune which appears to be a name of some sort. Sarek and I can't quite translate it. I am sure to get a few very good examples of that.

I also find Ulavant's belongings hidden near the door. Of interest is his journal. It is obvious he couldn't translate the runes, either, but glancing through it, his story becomes clear. His team came here, convinced they would find a portal linking to another, more important, and completely undisturbed tomb. However, without a way to open this door, and with no one manning the entrance to this closed chamber, they were trapped. Hunger got to them, and they eventually degenerated into picking off unwary team members in the night and cannibalizing them. However, after a time even this plan gave out, and they gradually starved to death, only to rise as hungry undead as a result of their cannibalism. Through his madness, moments of lucid thought are evident - these pages depict a pious man in anguish over the horror of his situation. I shudder inwardly at his long, grim fate.

Anxious to turn my thoughts elsewhere, I head back to the entrance and, after several minutes of yelling, 31E finally hears me and opens the door. I show him the various rubbings, but he can't read them, either. However, when I show him the rubbing of the plate on the locked door, he says it looks a lot like a metal plate he was sent here with. He produces it, and I compare the plate to the rubbing and determine they're a match. It must be the key!

Back with the party, we decide to rest and formulate a plan. We stack the corpses of the Seekers on the pressure plate, keeping the door to the chamber open. Then, Sarek somehow convinces me to gather bombardier beetle corpses so he can raise them as zombies. This done, we return to the goo room and rest.

In the morning, Sarek and Nineve have clearly contracted ghoul fever. However, with their help, the much-improved Alastor and I finally decipher the name-rune: "Icosiel". Then, we head back to the door. When 31E puts his metal plate on the depression in the door, the portal splits in half and opens into a large, spheroid chamber.

Floating warriors clad in ceramic armor approach us, and after some confusion, they lead us on a tour of the chamber, pausing in front of a series of animated reliefs which show us the story of Icosiel and the history of their race.

The first panel depicts the Storm King race living a peaceful, idyllic existence, until monstrous creatures of darkness and terror begin to encroach upon their perfect world.

In the second panel, Storm Kings clad for war (including Zosiel) are saluting Icosiel, who has become a respected warrior and a hero to his people.

The 3rd panel depicts a major battle, where a great Storm King warrior wields the Rod of Law against the leader of the Army of Chaos. However, this use of the Rod destroys both the Storm King warrior and his opponent, and shatters the Rod into seven pieces.

In the last panel, seven Storm King leaders are each receiving a fragment of the Rod of Law amidst much ceremony. Icosiel and others look on.

Above the inactive portal is another name-rune. I can't read it, but I recognize the symbol from the story - this is the name of one of the Storm Kings who received a part of the Rod. If Ulavant's theory was correct, perhaps this portal, when active, would lead to his tomb! However, it certainly isn't doing anything (or leading anywhere) at the moment. I take a rubbing of the rune in hopes that we can somehow translate it later.

At length, we join the waiting wind-warriors at the center of the spherical room, on a platform. Stepping into the center, we are borne gently upward on a column of wind and light to a smaller chamber above. This is clearly Icosiel's burial chamber. Reliefs depicting the high points of his illustrious life adorn the walls.

As I climb the short flight of stairs to his sarcophagus, Icosiel's statue, depicting him lying in state on the lid, turns to me and instructs in Elven, "Say my name". Baffled, I blurt out, "Icosiel", and a pale blue light washes over the room. When it subsides, a seam has become clearly visible in the sarcophagus. After some discussion, we reverently lift the lid. Inside, we discover:

Icosiel's silver diadem (Circlet of Wisdom +2)
2 curved black horns with red tips (demon horns)
a pewter box inscribed with writhing alien letter forms
Lightning Sword of Icosiel (broken, but repaired somewhat)
a matching +1 shortsword

The pewter box appears to be welded shut, and it's scurrying scrawl makes us somehow uneasy. I ask Hezzrack if he can read it... he takes one look and flies backwards, refusing to look at it anymore. When pressed, the imp says that he can't quite read the writing because "it's so old", but he just knows it's very, very bad. It occurs to me that something that is too much for Hezzrack is probably extremely dangerous. Haroldur wants to leave the box here, but I convince him that since we've breached the tomb, this place is no longer secure. We can't have this thing falling into the wrong hands. We agree to take it back with us to the Ruby Temple. With a pensive glance around at my companions - the impulsive Nineve, headstrong Haroldur, sinister Sarek... I tuck the box in among my belongings for safe-keeping.

We return one last time to the goo chamber, and I take extra samples of it for analysis. We decide to head back to Diamond Lake. It takes some time, but we finally haul everything (including the bodies of Ulavant's team) up to the Cairn entrance. Fortunately, I thought ahead and purchased a cart and 2 mules to help us transport the bodies back to Diamond Lake! On the way to the cart, Hezzrack warns us that people are coming...

A haggard group of wild-eyed humans bursts out of the underbrush! As soon as the "leader" opens his mouth, it's clear they are completely insane. However, they seem to be fixated on 31E...

The battle is joined, but suddenly, some of the attackers morph into aberrations called "faceless stalkers". Spells and swords fly, and during the vicious fight, Haroldur and I fall. Just as things are looking grim, Kullen the half-orc erupts from the bushes and attacks the leader of the lunatic band! He bisects the madman, and a hail of crossbow bolts from the bushes rain down upon the aberrations. With their assistance, the battle is won.

As they are looting the corpses (which happens immediately), Kullen explains that "the boss" wants us watched, but he didn't say anything about watching us die. We thank him and his boys for their assistance. Surveying the mercenary crew, I decide I don't want them to feel I owe them anything. I pay the thugs a platinum piece each - except for one bright soul who proudly insists he won't work for less than 10 gold. I pay him in his preferred coinage. Kullen refuses my offer of payment, nodding to the loot he scavenged off the leader's corpse. As he leaves, he tosses us the madman's necklace, the:

Sihedron amulet

Haroldur and Nineve do the rites and bury the corpses, while I examine the remains of the faceless stalkers - no bodies, just a smoking, greasy black spot on the earth! I kick some dirt and debris over the residue, repulsed by the unnaturalness of it.

Our return trip to Diamond Lake is uneventful. Along the way Hezzrack fashions a crown out of leaves and twigs and proclaims himself "King of the Cart", a title no one contests.

Back in Diamond Lake, the poor quarter has developed into "Little Kolbenberg", and people gossip about us and treat us like celebrities - apparently, we've become local heroes. We make our way to the Grey Convent and lodge there. Also, we advise 31E to lay low, as the townsfolk would certainly find him very conspicuous.

In the morning, Sarek and Nineve visit the church of St. Cuthbert for healing, as they are still suffering badly from their disease. They are pressed into hard labor, and return at sundown. Meanwhile, I visit with Lazare and pick up some new chess skills. Alastor and Brolan are reunited, and set immediately to their notes. At dusk, Haroldur gives a mediocre sermon at the convent, to a small crowd.

The next morning, Sarek and Nineve are late to work at St. Cuthbert's, and no doubt pay for it with their hides. I decide to spend the day working at the Convent, and Haroldur leaves to drum up more people for his evening sermon. In town, a guard captain is erecting a makeshift gallows to execute four hobos he claims were "plotting to kill the mayor"! Haroldur investigates and concludes that the hobos are innocent and the guard captain is under some kind of magical compulsion. He starts bombastically preaching in their favor, sparking a public debate, and word of the commotion spreads through town like wildfire.

The rest of us converge on the source of the disturbance, and suddenly realize we haven't seen Hezzrack in a while... It's not a huge leap of logic to conclude that he must be behind this. Sarek starts provoking the invisible imp by calling him his "familiar", which of course elicits the usual tirade. Before things get too out of hand, I announce to Hezzrack (who is still invisible) that i spent all day yesterday learning new chess moves from Lazare, and I'll meet him back at the convent for a game, if he's interested. After a brief moment of consideration, he says "Deal!", and I lure him back to the convent while Haroldur, Sarek, and Nineve sort out the mess.

Hezzrack plays chess with me and 31E all day. In the evening, the party and I decide we need to have tighter control of Hezzrack's antics. After a heated debate over what to do, we decide to draw up a contract with him. He agrees to all the terms, though I suspect he's just vowing to be more subtle with his mischief. Devils will be devils.

The next day, Sarek and Nineve have recovered and are released from service to the church of St. Cuthbert. We visit Lazare, Alastor and Brolan, who have had time to compare notes. They tell us that they're sure the Rod depicted in the story is in fact none other than the Rod of Law, also known as the Rod of Seven Parts. This artifact is reputed to be so powerful, that throughout history, wars have been fought and kingdoms sacrificed for just a fragment of it. They also confirm my suspicion that the portal we found likely leads to the tomb of a Storm King leader who received a fragment of the Rod... and it's almost certainly completely undisturbed and may even contain the fragment! All this discussion seems to have jogged 31E's memory, and he recalls that he was sent to the Cairn initially to find this fragment or clues leading to it. Of course, the scholars are very excited by all of this.

They also tell us that to repair 31E, we'll probably need to find an artificer, but no one is sure of how we can replace his lost limbs, as he is quite advanced.

Through all of this, I get the impression that Lazare knows more than he's letting on, but I don't press him on it. After all, he's in the business of being in the know, and I imagine he won't share whatever that knowledge is on anyone else's terms.

Later that day, the Legionnaires arrive to collect the bodies of the Seekers and escort us back to Istivin, the capitol. Alastor and Brolan accompany us, along with Tamclar and his family. As we're packing to leave, Zolara appears to us and offers us a reading:

The Choosing:
Ashe - The Twin
Sarek - The Betrayal
Haroldur - The Empty Throne
Nineve - The Tyrant

The Spread:

The Winged Serpent -------The Survivor ---------- The Publican
The Empty Throne -------The Rabbit Prince -------The Crows
The Desert -----------------The Courtesan --------The Sickness

~Ashe

Episode 7: 5/24/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/1-2
Haroldur, human cleric/3
Nineve Floret, human knight/3
Sarek, human wizard/3

Zolara interprets our Harrow reading:

"Ancient secrets influence events that have brought you to this point, but hidden danger threatens as well. Strange runes guide your path. Unshakable loyalty binds inseparable companions. Someone you seek still lives, but is pinned beneath an 8-pointed star, and is held by another will entirely. Fire first and darkness after. A group, once coherent, is now lost in madness and forever waiting in the dark to share their curse."

In Diamond Lake, Brolan and Lazare become research buddies, as both are interested in the Whispering Cairn stuff. Lazare hands over his findings, along with Brolan and Sarek's interpretation of Alastor's notes:

The cairns are reputed to be the final resting places of ancient warriors known as the Storm Kings who ruled a great empire long before the Imperium. The Whispering Cairn itself is and intricate grave that is thousands of years old.

All of the known Cairns share a similar architecture: wide, tall corridors constructed from strange white stone blocks of massive size leading to a central tomb chamber. These cairns have long ago been throughly looted, and whatever defenses were once in place have been defeated. However, local legends persist, insisting that unexplored chambers with undiscovered treasures from a bygone era remain hidden within the cairns, awaiting someone clever or brave enough to claim them.

The Whispering Cairn itself is one of the larger tombs, known locally for the eerie sounds that whisper within the entrance and corridor of the cairn. It has gained a sinister reputation around Diamond Lake, with many claiming that it is haunted or filled with still active, deadly traps. The last recorded expedition to the Whispering Cairn was some 60 years ago, lead by Ulavant.

Alastor had been studying Ulavant's notes for several years during his retirement in Kolbenburg, and learned several things of great interest. Through his research, Ulavant had come to believe that the Storm Kings had gone to great lengths to hide the tombs of their fallen warriors. Most warriors were interred in tombs with several false burial chambers and dead ends to mislead would-be tomb robbers. The truly important tombs of their greatest warriors were concealed so well that none have ever been found. Ulavant believed that some of the more prominent Storm King tombs were linked to these important tombs, providing the only means of access. Ulavant theorized that the true burial chamber within the lesser tomb also contained whatever method the Storm Kings used to link the tombs together, most likely some variety of portal.

Moreover, Ulavant had come to be convinced that the tomb known locally as the Whispering Cairn was one of these lesser tombs linked to a greater burial site. The prospect of locating one of these greater tombs, un-plundered for countless years became an obsession for both Ulavant and Alastor.

Lazare asks us to please pass along any additional information we find on our expedition to the Cairn. I agree to take judicious notes.

Haroldur shops around and acquires a butler's outfit for his new thrall, whom he fusses over and calls "Jeeves". I purchase 3 horses for the party, and food. We make preparations to head out, but Nineve seems to have contracted ghoul fever. Haroldur does what he can for her.

On the way out of town, Hezzrak tells us not to trust Lazare, and that he threatened to eat him! I ask dryly if that was a telepathic threat. Hezzrak says he's surprised I didn't hear Lazare, because he sure did... I tell Hezzrak that I bet he hears a lot of things that I don't.

We hit bad weather on the way, but eventually make it to the Whispering Cairn without incident, even though we are now deep in ogre country. Nineve is clearly ill with ghoul fever, but insists we press on. It's been drizzling all day and we arrive at the Cairn just before nightfall. I find a secluded copse to tether our horses, and we move into the cave-like entrance of the Cairn. Once inside, I realize this is a mistake, as we are clearly in the ogre's lair. With nowhere else to go, we continue into the Cairn, scaling the makeshift barrier of logs and detritus that blocks the passage.

From farther down the corridor we can hear angry, inarticulate roaring. It sounds as if the creature is chained in some way. Since it isn't an immediate threat, I spend a few minutes to look around while the rest of my companions struggle to surmount the pile of logs. I find a green leather quiver and 4 usable arrows among the refuse littering the floor, clearly the work of my people. Just as Nineve makes it over the logs, the wailing creature breaks free and comes barreling around the corner.

A degenerate ogre stands before us, it's milky blind eyes rolling in their sockets as python-thick arms shake with rage. Nineve and I rush in to meet the new threat. The rest of the party joins in as they scramble over the obstacle. At the beginning of combats, the Hidden Truth appears to me, and I am granted extra insight about our foe. The only insight I need, however, is the fact that this particular degenerate ogre is suddenly, inexplicably seized with a fit of allergies, and we beat it down quickly. At the end of combats, Haroldur receives the vision of the Wanderer, and finds value others may have overlooked. This time, he finds a magic buckler.

Soon, a pair of ogres enter the Cairn and lumber into view. Hezzrak suggests the larger ogre is the star of the metropolitan ballet. Thus distracted, we defeat his companion easily. However, the would-be ballerina proves more challenging. Just before he knocks me out, he impales Nineve on his massive bailing hook! Fortunately, we pull through. Just as we're healing up, Haroldur gets shot in the back - it's Zasalamel!

He again begins listing off crimes we don't recognize, except "consorting with devils", which Hezzrak takes exception to. In response, Hezzrak blasts a Scorching Ray into Zasalamel's chest. Jeeves the butler ghoul is utterly destroyed, much to Haroldur's dismay. At length, Sarek exploits a loophole in the fabric of the multiverse and banishes the Justice Archon with a darkbolt, blasting him into the past (or is it the future?). Haroldur carefully retrieves the butler outfit.

We turn our attentions back to the degenerate ogre. We find he was chained to a mysterious stone object. Upon closer inspection, we determine it was part of a transportation apparatus, and is covered with mysterious ancient runes. I take rubbings of the runes to show Lazare, Brolan, and the Cabal later. Sarek is fairly certain the base of the sculpture bears the name "Zosiel".

Moving on, we find ogre-vandalized mosaics and bas-reliefs surrounding a marble dais. Haroldur cleans them off with a Create Water. While Haroldur is washing the walls, I search the disgusting ogre bedchamber opposite the marble dais area. I find:

a marble index finger from a statue
an elven armband
a lantern with violet glass panes
9gp
15sp
assorted ancient clockwork pieces

Once the mosaic is clean, I make a detailed sketch of it for posterity.

Continuing down the stairs, we enter a large central chamber with several passageways branching off from it radially. The passageways are distinguished by different colored lanterns. In the blue lantern hallway, we find a skeleton. I determine he died from falling damage.

The center of the room contains a sarcophagus. The marble finger i found earlier clearly was at one time attached to the sculpture. It is wearing an ornamented disc around its neck, and I take a rubbing of it. Then, we carefully open the lid of the sarcophagus. A blast of wind knocks us back and coalesces into a whirlwind humanoid shape, which of course attacks us. Nineve lands the killing blow, to Hezzrak's infinite frustration, and the creature dissipates.

Closer inspection of the sarcophagus reveals that it appears to rotate. We rotate it one position (to the yellow passageway), and an elevator appears! We enter it after some ridiculous "safety" debate with Head-Injury Nineve, and take a ride down to a new chamber. More carvings cover the walls. At the end of the hallway, a faint light flickers. As we advance towards the light, we smell the odor of burning flesh. Soon, we notice the source of light - a burning corpse which rises from its resting place and advances on us menacingly.

Nineve receives the vision of the Rakshasa, and feels more resilient and willful. With the distance closed, we notice the foe is actually a smoldering body bearing the 8-pointed star of the Seekers of Wee Jas. The body appears to be being controlled by a flaming effigy. Haroldur separates the effigy from its victim, and Hezzrak finally lands the killing blow, after several misses.

We heal up the charred (but living) body and find that he's Alastor Land! After a brief explanation, we take him with us.

The next room contains a brown mold, which Sarek dispatches. Hezzrak is perched atop one of several clockwork horrors, which appear to be inactive. In the center of the room is a large gray fixture with fountains on either side - one flowing with water and the other an orange sludge, which I determine to be nutritive. I take a vial of it for further analysis. Suddenly, the clockwork horrors spring to life, startling Hezzrak.

They start making high-pitched whirring noises, and then unleash a barrage of electrical attacks! The horrific beetle-like robots attack with deadly accuracy, slinging darts, arcs of electricity, and buzzing circular saws. Ash falls under the weight of a particularly well-placed dart. Hezzrak rains corrosive acid on them from above as the rest of the party hacks away at their tough metal exteriors.

At length, they fall to our might. With the aid of the Wanderer, Haroldur finds a golden amulet and some magical oil. We are all feeling stronger from our experiences and decide to rest in this chamber before continuing on.

~Ashe

Episode 5: 5/3/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/1-2
Haroldur, human cleric/3
Nineve Floret, human knight/3
Sarek, human wizard/3

After the battle, the bones of the skeletal guardians are sucked up through the metal gate at the end of the room, like iron filings. I ask Hezzrak where the treasure is, and he says it's upstairs, where the bones went. Downstairs is apparently water. As I'm picking the lock to the metal gate, Hezzrak explains his past. He was a wizard's familiar, once, and these ruins were the wizard's tower. One of the wizard's experiments went wrong, causing a huge earthquake that killed him and sealed Hezzrak in the tower. Being immortal, he was stuck here for about 300 years with no company save the guardians, until the goblins came along. Communicating telepathically, he brokered a deal with them, whereby he'd serve the goblin leader for one year if they would tunnel him out. Since his rescue, the goblin leader had been trying to make him her familiar, without success. Hezzrak is eternally grateful for relieving him of his contract with the goblins. I ask him if he is interested in becoming someone else's familiar, and he launches into a foul-mouthed tirade about how he'll NEVER be anyone's familiar ever again.... It seems to be a touchy subject with him...

We continue on up the stairs and come to a room with a bridge over water. At the end of the bridge, the skeletal guardian's bones are reforming into a single bizzare, skeletal monster, the likes of which we've never seen. Nineve charges forward (of course) and the bridge crumbles underneath her. She doesn't react in time, and is plunged into the water and buried underneath an avalanche of rubble. From there, everyone moves forward cautiously, except for me. I leap gracefully over the chasm, throwing in a few flips for good measure. Hezzrak flies over and oogles the monster while I nimbly dodge a spray of bone shards it flings in my direction. With my hands full and the rest of the party held up by the bridge obstacle, I ask Hezzrak if he'd mind flying behind the monster and trying to actually help... He flies onto one of the monstrosity's heads and covers the eye sockets, but it doesn't appear to notice. I hack at the monster a few times, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. Nineve finally climbs back up out of the water and jumps the gap, but the monster slams into her and knocks her off the ledge and back into the water! The monster slams into me, too, but I manage to cling to the edge of the bridge and maneuver around to the far side of the monster, just as Nineve and One-Eye scrabble up the rubble and join the fray. Nineve and One-Eye get a face full of bone shards as I hack the monster in the back, Hezzrak clinging to one of it's skulls all the while. Haroldur and Sarek wisely stay on the other side of the collapsed bridge and pepper the monster with spells, occasionally yelling advice. At length, Nineve finishes the monster off with a vial of holy water.

With that epic battle behind us, we take stock and continue on. The next room has been mostly caved in. I squeeze past the rubble blocking the entrance to scout ahead while the rest of the group starts clearing a larger path. As I step into the room, I notice a pool in the center. I approach it, and a large skeletal dragon erupts from the pool in a fountain of water. I notice the dragon is definitely worse for the wear - it's missing an arm and it's tail, but I'm sufficiently taken aback that I turn around and scramble back through the crack. Hezzrak mutters something about "Snapper" - he'd forgotten about him... I help the others clear the rubble, and Haroldur sends One-Eye in. Nineve is close behind. Snapper unleashes its full fury on Nineve and One-Eye, and then I (reluctantly) run in to help. It's a rough and brutal fight in which Nineve goes down, but we narrowly prevail. After the climactic battle, we elect to rest, despite Hezzrak's insistence that we continue to "entertain" him....

After resting, we find Hezzrak's promised loot:
4 everburning torches
black journal of historical interest
scroll (A) Resist Energy
set of granite dice (25gp)
scroll (A) Identify
bronze spectacles (10 gp)
potion - Protection from Good
scroll (A) Invisibility
wand - Detect Magic
lg. zircon paperweight (70 gp)
broad brimmed velvet hat (50 gp)
Dust of Disappearance
scroll (A) Baleful Transposition
green dragonhide gloves (300 gp)
Belt of Healing
embroidered linen blanket (10 gp)
obsidian chips (20 gp)
MW breastplate
gold bracelet (80 gp)
MW leather armor
MW lt. steel shield
marble relieve of dwarf wrestlers (gay! 100 gp)
lg. golden pearl (200 gp)
Soul Void Orb
really ugly earrings (50 gp)
mahogany bust of a scholar (75 gp)
scroll (A) Sending
potion - CSW
carved bone and ivory statuette (100 gp)
mithril circlet engraved with Elvish poetry (350 gp)
Audra crystal
jade cameo pendant (250 gp)
potion - Fly

We divide all the loot we've accumulated and we each get 6 pp, 646 gp, and 1830 sp... if we want it.

Brolan encourages us to move on to the cavern with the confiscated notes. We leave Hezzrak's keep and move through the goblin warrens, avoiding wandering patrols. At length, we come to a huge cavern. We're on a cliff about 25 feet above the main cavern floor. Below, hundreds of goblins are tending an incredibly huge, unbelievably massive yellow musk creeper. 3 goblin guards stand up on our cliff, blocking our path to the next cavern. We decide stealth is our only option, and try to take them out as quietly as possible. Our plan almost fails, as my companions are not exactly the sniping sort, but we manage to eliminate the goblin guards without alerting the rest of the horde.

We continue on to a precarious log bridge, and Haroldur nearly plummets to his certain doom, but somehow regains his balance and manages to continue the clifftop escape. Next, we come to a 15 foot cliff. I climb up and lower a rope for the party. Everyone makes it up fine except for Haroldur, who finally manages it after several false starts. At the top of the cliff, an ogre zombie is waiting for us, just around the corner. We get stuck in and are surprised to hear the sounds of shrieking goblin-imp combat in the clearing ahead. It would seem Hezzrak is "helping"... We hack through the zombie and move on to the goblins Hezzrak has started for us. The last goblin surrenders, but Hezzrak ices him, cackling evilly.

Brolan explains that these caves contain Alastor's notes, and on closer inspection, we notice the area is littered with the debris of ages. Everything that could have conceivably been carried off in a thousand goblin raids clutters these caverns in haphazard stacks. However, the sounds of our recent combat have undoubtedly drawn some attention, so we should hurry and try to find those notes as quickly as possible. Hezzrak, Sarak and I search while Nineve and Haroldur keep watch. We find:

Alastor's notes (Lucky!)
wand of Magic Missile
wand of Resurgence
troll gut rope
deck of interesting looking cards
scroll (A) Bull's Strength
potion - Bear's Endurance
+1 shortsword
vial of silversheen

Hezzrak finds the silversheen and cackles with glee. The goblins finally hear us and begin to give chase. The rest of the party begins their escape, but Hezzrak and I stay behind for one last loot grab. I find a jewel-hilted longsword (+1 mithral Elvencraft) and Hezzrak grabs a Dwarven beer stein (an Everfull Mug).

We join the chase just in front of the massive goblin horde. I sprint ahead, soon outpacing the heavily armored cleric and knight, traipsing gingerly across rope bridges and scrambling up rocky cliffs like they're not there. I emerge first from the caverns, to find Tamklar and his team of dwarves preparing to collapse the mine. I explain that all the goblins ever born in a 500 mile radius are right on our heels. Also, we found the yellow musk creeper god, and I think we made it angry...

Tamklar explains taht I can help them collapse the caverns more quickly, so I set to it. Sarek comes dashing out of the caverns a moment later, with his robes hiked up around his knobbly wizard-knees. A score of goblins is right on his tail. Hezzrak pops into existence and casts Suggestion on the first goblin to appear, causing it to dance. Then Sarek webs the passage he'd just emerged from, trapping the first of the goblin menace. More goblins pour into the side passages, and Sarek draws a scroll and Lightning Bolts a line of them. Nineve comes up behind a band of goblins, with more on her heels. Just then, the dwarves collapse the caves and boulders start falling all around us. Haroldur runs out just in time, and we all rush out, blinking into the sunlight, as the thundering crash of the mountain collapsing onto the goblin horde rings in our ears.

Back in Kolbenberg, we're local heroes. We rest up and heal our wounds and assess the goblin treasure we made off with. Also, I provide care to Tamklar's wife - I think I can help her get through the worst of the Red Ache now, though her condition has deteriorated since I saw her last. Brolan, Sarek and I pour through Alastor's jumbled, dirty notes and manage to determine that he was on the trail of Ulavant (which we knew) and was headed to a plave called the Whispering Cairn (which we didn't). Sarek and I don't know where the Whispering Carin is, but we've heard of the Cairn Hills outside of Diamond Lake - it might be a good place to start our search.

Sarek sends the Cabal an update:
"Following Ulevant to Cairn Hills.
Need info on Whispering Carin.
Request additional material support.
Kolbenberg is sacked, in desperate need of supplies, guards, priests, rebuilding."

They reply:
"We cannot offer aid to Kolbenberg.
They must live or die on their own.
Ask a local about Whipering Cairn.
What support is required? >2000gp."

Wise of them to put a gp limit on that, with Haroldur around....

As we are investigating the deck of cards we found, a woman appears to us and introduces herself as Zolara. She was once a powerful fate-spinner, and has bound herself to her Harrow cards, that she may continue to use her influence even in death. She has fortold our coming and has been waiting for us for many years. She explains that as long as she travels with us, she can foreshadow events and subtly manipulate our futures.

"Allow me to demonstrate", she says, and she does a Harrow reading.

The Choosing:
Ashe - The Survivor
Sarek - The Sickness
Haroldur - The Teamster
Nineve - The Brass Dwarf

The Spread:

The Waxworks ------The Trumpet ---- The Cricket
The Lost ------------The Fiend ---------The Betrayal
The Hidden Truth ---The Crows --------The Eclipse

~Ashe

*The Harrow deck is also from Paizo's Pathfinder stuff. We're trying it out as a storytelling mechanic - hopefully it'll be cool.*

Episode 4: 4/26/08

(We have just converted to the Pathfinder rules set, which is put out by Paizo, because like most other D&D gamers, we think 4th edition is totally lame.)

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/1-1
Haroldur, human cleric/2
Nineve Floret, human knight/2
Sarek, human wizard/2

After the excitement dies down a bit, we hear goblins yelling to each other from the north side of town. Since we were heading that way anyway, I go out to do a little recon. I find 3 goblins holding a human female hostage. I also notice 3 goblin archers peeking through the windows of the 2nd story of the inn - an inn we'd have to pass in order to get to the goblins with the hostage. This is obviously a planned ambush. I return to report my findings, and Nineve is confident that the ambush poses no real threat, so we decide to attack. As Nineve rides out into the street, the goblin leader yells in broken common that we must surrender to him or he'll kill the hostage. We're not particularly concerned about a random female commoner, so Nineve charges forward. The goblin finishes off the hostage just as Nineve and her horse close the distance and slam into him. Haroldur and Tamklar rush (relatively speaking) down the street into the fray, while I, still unseen, try to snipe a goblin sniper. Unfortunately, I'm too far away to do any serious harm, so I run forward and hop into the inn building through a broken 1st floor window. Tamklar, still trundling bravely onward, is getting peppered with arrows from the goblin snipers when a pair of goblins riding an enormous spider lunges toward him from an adjacent burnt ruin. He slams into the spider with his hammer, and Haroldur is right behind him, channeling the dread power of Wee Jas into the spider and making it bleed. (Nice trick!)

Tamklar finishes off the spider and faces down the goblin riders, while Nineve finishes off the leader and starts chasing down his fleeing lackeys. Meanwhile, Sarek strides calmly into the inn, unnoticed in all the commotion, walks up behind a goblin sniper, and using a death touch granted to him by Wee Jas, suddenly turns the sniper into a lifeless husk. (Wow!) We clear out the remaining goblins and I find a cache of human prisoners, which includes Alastair's retarded stable boy, Jimmy.

Jimmy was quite skittish at first, but with some gentle coaxing I find that Alastair's been missing for about a week. However, his assistant Brolan was captured in the goblin attacks, and has most likely been hauled off to the mines. We wrap up with the villagers, and head off to the goblin mines, with Tamklar leading the way.

As we approach the mines, we notice the entrance is blocked by greenery which Tamklar says is new. We walk up to the mine entrance and we're attacked by plant zombies and a yellow musk creeper (that we mistook for harmless greenery earlier)! During the fight, Nineve is hit by a cloud of spores & compelled to stand in the plant! Fortunately, Sarek and I finished off the creeper before it has a chance to eat her brain. We mop up the rest of the plant zombies, and enter the mines. Tamklar knows these mines like the back of his hand, so he attempts to guide us through carefully, so as to avoid any more confrontations with zombifying plants.

Unfortunately, Sarek stumbles at just the wrong moment and we are surrounded by musk zombies and their parent creeper. Haroldur walks right up to the creeper, as if inviting the spores-to-the-face that he then receives. The plant almost kills him trying to dig out his brains while he stands there, completely transfixed. Luckily, we dispatch it just in time. Haroldur now has the intelligence of Jimmy the stable boy, and is barely capable of speech. As such, he insists we press on despite the fact that Sarek has been out of spells for several hours.

We continue on, but Nineve's incessant stomping attracts another group of creeper zombies. We mop 'em up and veto Haroldur's "chop 'till we drop" agenda. Tamklar finds us a nice, secluded area to rest up in. After the break (elves NEVER nap!), I'm feeling much less poisoned, and Haroldur seems to be regaining his wits, albeit rather slowly... The next morning, we're all feeling stronger from our experiences!

We quickly find the point where the miners first encountered the goblin menace, and find ourselves in the middle of a goblin and zombie creeper patrol. We dispatch them and take a goblin hostage to lead us to the captive villagers. As the goblin leads us down the passage, I notice a black crow flitting just ahead of us. When I aim my bow at it (because crows don't hang out in caves!), it squawks "Treasure!" and flits down the corridor. We eventually come to a large cavern with an underground lake and some really cute, fat purple creatures that I recognize as ferocious, deadly cave squiggs!

True to their bloodthirsty reputation, they attack viciously, severely wounding myself and Nineve. We defeat them, but their gnashing death throes tear chunks of flesh from my body, rendering me unconscious. Fortunately, I fall next to Haroldur, who heals me immediately. As I'm getting up, I spot a goblin scout spying on us from a nearby ledge. In a flash, I draw my bow and kill the scout... I think everyone else just thinks I'm paranoid. It's not my fault they have crappy perception....Speaking of which, the goblin captive has capitalized on our moment of distraction and made his escape. By the time we notice he's missing, he's long gone.

Just as things are settling down, that crow appears on Sarek's shoulder, squawking again about treasure. Suddenly, the crow disappears and up ahead on the sandy shore of the underground lake, an imp appears, rolling around and laughing maniacally, promising treasure. The imp vanishes as quickly as he had appeared, but we can hear him giggling to himself down the hallway. We follow the winding passages to a goblin dining area and another squigg. I snipe two of the goblins before they have a chance to react, then the rest of the team mops up the survivors. In the midst of the gore, the imp appears again, reveling in the bloodshed, and he and Sarek share a special, evil moment. Then, the imp vanishes again and continues muttering off down the hallway.

We proceed to a recently abandoned common area, with hastily discarded food and cards scattered about. I use my Improved Sift ability to replay the immediately preceding events. I see the goblins lounging around, carousing, when a red-robed goblin with a staff bursts into the room and barks at the others to quit screwing around and get ready to defend against the intruders. She storms out of the room, and the goblins scatter like quail. Thus forewarned, we manage to avoid being surprised during the planned ambush. Sarek makes quick work of the fight by successfully casting Tasha's Hideous Laughter on the red-robed leader. That imp appears again, and is positively giddy. His name is apparently Hezzrak, and it seems the red-robed goblin leader was his master or something. I didn't really have time to listen to the story, as he was sitting there expostulating right in the middle of the skirmish.

We kill about half of the goblins, and the remaining ones, realizing that they've lost the advantage, suddenly become very helpful. They are easily convinced to lead us to the captive humans.

We are brought to a cavern with a barred gate corralling about 30 dirty, half-staved villagers. We ask if Brolan is among them, and a tall, bookish-looking middle aged man with huge, round, cracked spectacles steps forward, blinking. I have Haroldur mend his glasses as we discuss Alastair, the goblins, and our options. Brolan tells us that he hasn't seen Alastair in several weeks, but he managed to salvage most of his employer's notes before the goblin attack. The goblins confiscated everything, of course, but Brolan is relatively certain he can lead us to the cavern where they are kept. The villagers beg to be released, and express a great deal of fear regarding the "thousands of goblins!".

We quickly decide that Tamklar will lead the villagers out of the caves, and can make preparations to collapse the cavern entrance from the mines once we're out. We part ways and Hezzrak appears, emerging from Haroldur's pack, proudly claiming it as his own. He winks out of sight and flits down the corridor, singing to himself.

Brolan accompanies us as we continue down the passage and come to a large door standing ajar. Hezzrak is lounging in front of it, eating something slimy. He indicates the treasure is through the door, then disappears.

We pass through the doors and find ourselves in a chamber lined with 6 sarcophagi. Haroldur discovers that the center of the room is trapped (spikes!). When we enter, 4 of the skeletons emerge and attack us. We fight bravely, but the skeletal guardians prove to be formidable foes. Haroldur gains control of one of them, evidently called "One-Eye"(by Hezzrak), and it joins our entourage. Eventually, we manage to slay the other 3 skeletal guardians. Hezzrak jabbers throughout the combat, talking to the skeletons and calling them by name. He gives me 2 to 1 odds on the skeletons, a bet I take for 10gp (he totally owes me!). When the first guardian falls, he seems upset, yelling "Slim! Noooooo!" He flies over and cradles the skull, sobbing until he becomes bored with it and tosses it discompassionately over his shoulder. As we focus our attacks on the next guardian, Hezzrak brags that we'll never beat Champ, he always wins... when they play chess?!? (Aren't skeletons unintelligent undead? I decide at this point that the little guy is seriously unhinged.) Indeed, Champ proves to be a challenge, but we at last manage to take him down. At this, Hezzrak flies over and screams "Checkmate, bitch!" over and over, and kicks Champ's skull across the room. The guardian he calls Bonehead falls shortly thereafter, but Hazarak hardly notices...

From all the goblins and creepers, we've found some loot:

a silver whistle engraved with tiny spiders
a teak bowl (10 gp)
earrings (50 gp)
scroll (D) Bull's Strength
MW heavy steel shield
ornate wooden box (75 gp)
MW breastplate
jade idol (100 gp)
2 scrolls (D) Lesser Restoration
potion - Shield of Faith +3
a small chest containing 150 sp
scroll (A) Light
bag of onyx (50 gp total)
wand of CLW
tiger eye turquoise (25 gp)
scroll (D) Silence
a pouch containing 30 pp
MW studded leather armor
climber's kit
crystal of screening, Least

Of course, there's no time to divvy loot now...

~Ashe