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 3: 2/23/08

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

We are about to set sail when Nineve is suddenly seized with the urge to buy a warhorse. She does her last-minute shopping, and we are finally underway. It takes the better part of the day to sail across the lake, but the journey passes uneventfully.

However, as we near the Kolbenberg shore, we notice that the boathouse appears to be on fire. As we get closer we can see the cause of the blaze - goblins! We disembark and they immediately open fire on us. We wade into the fray. About halfway through the battle, a shaved dwarf, who has obviously been fighting goblins inside the burning boathouse, emerges and joins us in the fight against the goblins (or, more likely, we're joining him). He fights bravely and after the immediate goblin threat has been eliminated, we learn his name is Tamklar.

Before much more information can be exchanged, he asks for our assistance and leads us through the burning boathouse to a very ill dwarven woman and a tiny dwarf infant. We rescue the dwarves from the burning building and move them to the safety of the Harkness. Tamklar explains that they are his wife and child. He has been shaving his head and beard in hopes of finding favor with the dwarven gods in seeking a cure for his very ill wife. Haroldur and I examine her and determine she is afflicted with Red Ache, but there's not much we can do for her.

We ask Tamklar about Alastair, and he's heard of him. However, he and his family fled to the boathouse when the goblins first attacked, and they haven't been in town or heard from any townsfolk since they went into hiding. His family will be relatively safe on the Harkness with the 6 soldiers guarding it, so he offers to take us to Alastair's house in town and help us in our search for him.

Alastair's house is a smoking ruin, but we search it and find an arcane scroll of light, and some variety of magical oil... No clues, however. The streets seem quiet, but we're cautious just in case. Adjacent to Alastair's house is a barn, and I sneak in to scout it out. Inside the barn, I find 2 goblins in the hay loft and a large spider on the ground floor. After taking a moment to confer with the party, I climb into the hay loft from the outside of the building and silently coup de grace the sleeping goblins. I also get one arrow off at the spider before he spots me and (thanks to his incredible speed and agility) is on me before my companions can open the barn door. The spider's fangs sink into my flesh and poison me, so as the rest of the party bursts through the door, I jump back out of the hay loft. Nineve shoots the spider right in the eye with her bow, and Sigmund finishes it off with his ranseur while I drink some antitoxin.

Moments later, goblin archers in the neighboring building attack, but Sarek's keen reflexes snipe them both before anyone else can so much as lift a finger! 2 more goblins appear in the window, and 4 of them rush out and charge the mounted Nineve, only to be cut down by Sigmund's ancestral hatred for all goblinkind. Nineve cuts down a goblin, and her horse brains another. The last goblin tries to run off and just ends up dying tired after Nineve and her horse chase them down. Sarek takes out another goblin in the window, but before he can finish off the last one, he somehow manages to knock himself out while reloading his crossbow... Sigmund charges upstairs for the last goblin, who sees him coming and promptly leaps out the window. Sigmund follows right behind him, however, landing on the poor goblin and killing it instantly. I enter the house and unlock a padlocked door on the ground level which is full of captive townsfolk. None of the townsfolk know where Alastair is, but they think there are more villagers being held in the northern part of town - perhaps he's with them.

While I'm chatting up the villagers, Nineve finds some strange icky yellow orc zombies around a mutilated corpse. Nineve and her horse tear into the zombies, but they're clearly not normal undead. After they are defeated, Sarek and I examine the corpses and determine that they are in fact plant creatures known as yellow musk creeper zombies...

Once the excitement dies down, we start to hear rhythmic chanting from the meeting hall. I sneak in to investigate. I find 7 goblins chanting crazily, while a leader shaman attempts to raise 3 corpses. However, I am spotted, so I lob a smoke stick in through the window to hopefully cover my escape. Goblins pour out of the meeting hall as the rest of the party moves in to meet the threat. Since most of the goblins are on the outside now, I jump through the smoky window into the meeting hall, just a the shaman finishes raising the first zombie. I try to tumble up to the shaman, but I trip and the zombie slams into me. Then, the shaman engulfs me in a fan of flame, and I'm suddenly alone and in very bad shape. I cut into the shaman, wounding him severely, and then tumble out the window to relative safety.

Meanwhile, the goblin mob outside has grabbed 2 of their number and poured potions down their throats, turning them into fanatics. The fanatics totter around the battlefield in seemingly random directions, haphazardly swinging huge spiked balls on chains. It looks quite dangerous, but I don't have time to notice much because the zombies are climbing out the window of the meeting hall after me! Haroldur comes to my rescue and heals me enough so that I can finish off the zombies and the shaman with little difficulty.

When all is said and done, we find:
a wand of animate dead with 12 charges
a scroll of lightning bolt
a pouch of clear quartz crystals
a MW small steel shield
and a scroll of identify (which we used on the wand)

~Ashe