Session #20
It was a long 2 weeks and I had a really bad day at work.
I was determined to take it out on the group. Hey, they come to the game to kill things for their stress gained from the week, and so do I.
[insert evil grin here]
Justin could not make it this week because he's 20 and broke and chose to work an extra shift at his job. Now I'm torn between my experiences of having been there and my joy at mercilessly picking Justin. Dangit.
So let us begin:
Day 21 (give or take a few hours)
Room I9: The party has just finished off the twin monstrosities Anguish & Madness. Now they quickly cast healing spells and quaff healing potions.
Then they hear yelling and many footsteps and other footsteps coming from many places in the nearby dungeon. They know they only have a quick run from this room to the safety of region E and its protective wards.
After a minute of arguing, the consensus is that they don't have the strength or spells for a direct fight and they have business to deal with in the Garrison.
The door is opened and they see a 3 armed drow elf waiting.
"You don't have much time! Hand Eight Strikes Fang to me.", says Loreth.
"Why would we do that?"
"It is a weapon we need to defeat the driders. Hand me the weapon now!"
Members of the party begin to decline individually.
"Give me the weapon now or I will yell and they will take it from your corpses!"
The party makes a wise decision and Zorak hands Eight Strikes Fang over to Loreth.
"Thank you. Now run."
Region E:
Hacked up map
The party enters the region to find it utterly quiet for this section. They don't like that they have to, but they rest.
Two hours into their resting, they hear many foot steps. They see 7 wolf-sized barghests and 1 horsesized barghest. The barghests obviously notice the group but do not prepare for combat. After a minute the barghests return. This time the large one parlays with the group.
He informs the group that they are now members of "The Redeemed" and that the wise inevitable Dubar is now in charge of the Garrison. When asked about what happened Kelara and the rest of the celestials, the barghest gives vague information that led the party to thinking that she was dead.
Every two hours a patrol of barghests walks by. Each time the party is disturbed enough to force them to have ro rest an extra couple of hours.
The party believes that the celestials of the Garrison are either imprisoned or slain so they intend to prove to Dubar that he is not fulfilling the requirements of the charter he signed. What will happen after that, they do not know. But they do know that what is going on right now is not in their best interests.
Near room E43 (the 25' x 25' un-numbered room): The party opens the door to find 7 barghests and a large barghest.
The barghests greet the PCs, bid them a wonderful hello, and asks them their business. The party states that they wish to enter the charter room. The barghests politely reply that they cannot allow that to happen; direct orders from Dubar.
The group does not like this, but they fear that attacking barghests who are acting on Dubar's behalf will bring the wrath of the inevitables down upon them. So they move on.
Room E66: The party enters this room very cautiously. They seek to find supplies from Wetoq and his stores, but have no clue what to expect. What they find is another squad of barghests and a few inevitables. One of the large barghests seems to be occupying one inevitable's attention. But all eyes were on the party.
They opened the door the store rooms of Wetoq. They were rebuffed by him, stating that "I cannot waste precious resources on the likes of you."
Once again, the party decides to move on before things get ugly.
Next they head to the location where the barghests usually hide. In the hallway entry is only 1 barghest. A short parlay proves this to be another dead end.
Now the party has no choice but to find a back way into the charter room. But their personal map is no where near complete, and the map they found of the region long ago shows no obvious way of getting to that location. But they travel on, hoping an answer will present itself.
It does in the form of a small ball of light appears before them. The party knows it to be Spark (a.k.a. Augury). It begins to move away from the party and they follow. It leads them to a dead-end room that is not frequented by the barghest patrols.
The party asks many questions, and he answers them the best he can (while capable of only giving yes or no answers).
The party finds out that there are celestials alive in the charter room. The only thing keeping the barghests out the room are the glyphs, but the barghests remain to keep the celestials pinned down.
Now the party plans to take out the barghests guarding the charter room. But they have to do it quietly because if one gets out an alarm, they're doomed. Their solution; put a Silence spell on Thunderclease's axe and have him stand in the center of the room, thus preventing any alarm being put out and will keep the sounds of the combat muted.
But the barghests have one thing that will help them at the last moment - their sense of smell is as accurate as their sense of sight.
The party buffs up, including Haste and Protection from Fire (on Thunderclease).
Round 1: Thunderclease bursts through the closed door, knocking it off it's hinges. The party was betting on a round of surprise, but their scent alarmed the barghests. (What do you think this party is going to smell like after 20+ days w/o a bath?). The barghest on the other side of the door was ready for combat and was able to prevent Thunderclease from knocking him back. Zorak tosses a Fireball into the room, striking all of the barghests and Thunderclease. And because Thunderclease is stuck in the doorway, the Silence effect on his axe does not extend entirely into the room. Barghests are very intelligent and are able to deduce what is going on. The large barghest moves into a corner of the room and casts Mass Bull's Strength on his allies. Another barghest is able to get Thunderclease to succumb to a Crushing Despair spell. The other barghests converge onto Thunderclease doing nearly 40 points of damage. The rest of the party moves down the hallway but are currently unable to move any further. At least until Valden is able to bring one down.
Round 2: Thunderclease has 4 barghests around him (all softened up by Zorak's Fireball). Swing #1 (primary attack) - one barghest down. Swing #2 (Cleave feat attack) - 2nd barghest down. Swing #3 (Secondary attack) - 3rd barghest down. Swing #4 (Haste attack) - 4th barghest down.
After that show of strength, the other 3 barghests make a run for it. But end up in a dead end. The party took some minor scratches but the 3 barghests were no match for the party.
The party quickly moved to the area of the charter room.
Rooms E40-E43: After the standard "Who goes there?" shtick, the party gets into the room. Inside they find 2 bralanis, Doj & Besar, and 1 hound archon, Spers.
The three garrison members (now 4 with the return of Spark) tell the party their story:
Dubar's sanity had been rapidly deteriorating (read as - programming was swiss cheesing). He was becoming more and more aggressive in his assertions that Kelara step down and that he be put in charge. He was also constantly looking for a legal way to subvert Kelara's power, also to no avail.
A short while ago Kelara allowed him to attempt to convert a handful of evil humanoids. She had hoped that this would occupy him and keep him from being a danger to himself and others.
He called these humanoids "The Redeemed" and in spite of all the proof otherwise, he felt that all these born-evil beasts had the full potential to be brought to the side of good.
When the party returned 3 of the 4 missing ward staves directly to Kelara, his sanity finally fractured. He now began to act upon the notion of "any means to an end".
In come the barghests. He contacted them to negotiate their reform and induction into The Redeemed. Saraas, the leader of the entire barghest pack (thanks to the party killing her rival), all too readily agreed.
From that point on Saraas filled Dubar's mind with even more madness.
Dubar called out one more time for Kelara to step down. She declined. Then he unveiled his new recruits. Over 2 dozen barghests poored into the great hall (room E66). Kelara snapped that Dubar had gone too far. But it was too late. All of the inevitables' programming had been deteriorating. Each one had become solely focused on their individual duties and had become blind to their original goals.
Kelara and her handful of true garrison-members number under 2 dozen. They could not fight this threat. She surrendered under Dubar's oath that they not be harmed. He agreed.
That was less than a day ago. Since then the 3 of them had been hiding out in this room, hoping to think of a way to save Kelara and return things to normal.
For the next hour (real time) the party plans on what to do. After Dalron plays Devil's Advocate, they realize that convincing Dubar that what he is doing is wrong won't work, and using truth enforcing spells will be worthless against Saraas as she can easily avoid the questions, or even give misleading, but honest answers.
Finally they take a close look at the garrison charter. They note that none of the inevitables' have their name on the charter. Spers confirms that they did sign the charter, and that could only mean that they no longer follow the charter.
The party then re-read the charter in the hopes of finding something they could use. The oaths boil down to:
- Always do what is right.
- To defend the weak.
- Always help your brothers in arms.
- Never relent to evil.
- And if a person who has signed the charter ever turns on its tenets that person shall be struck with a vengeance should they ever touch the charter again.
...That sentence is followed by the sound of Jeff smacking himself in the forehead...
They now have the beginnings of a plan, so they rest and heal up.
The 6 party members, Spark, Doj (who now carries the charter), Besar, and Spers move off to confront Dubar and his allies.
Room E66: The party bursts into the room and sees...
2 kolaryut inevitables (1 is Dubar)
3 marut inevitables
14 barghests
3 greater barghests (1 is Saraas)
Krieg: "Dubar your name no longer appears on the charter..."
Saraas: "They lie and you know it. They are here to usurp your rightful power."
Dubar: "Destroy them."
(Party enters from the eastern doorway. Looooong combat timewise - facts are fuzzy. Standard buffs are in use. Additionally Zorak cast Greater Invisibility on Dalron and Torin.)
Round 1: Thunderclease rushes into the room. Zorak nukes the barghests as the near end of the hallway. Some barghest get Bull's Strength cast on them. Other barghests get Enlarged. Thunderclease gets swarmed on all sides and loses half his hitpoints in one round. The inevitables move forward to engage the party but cannot get there because of distance and a crowded battlefield. Several of the party call for a retreat. Krieg retreats believing the others will follow.
Round 2: Thunderclease is surrounded but is able to once again drop 4 barghests. Dalron moves in and is able to sneak attack a greater barghest and brings it down. The celestials move into the room, believing that this may be their only chance and if they fail, Kelara will be killed (they know she is not because her candle is still lit). Over half of the party is now in the room. The other half are still confused as to what they need to do. Zorak tosses a Fireball at the other end of the hall, softening up several more barghests. Krieg returns.
Round 3: Thunderclease and Dalron continue their slaughter of barghests, and Torin and Valden join them. Zorak lobs another Fireball at the barghests in the west. Krieg begins his standard "heals on wheels" action. The door at the western end bursts open. It is reinforcements. But this time for the party. Morkor, Kelara's mate, has been waiting for this moment to free Kelara. But there are still 5 inevitables to deal with. One of the Marut's gets a single hit on Valden for about 15 points of damage.
Round 4: The celestials bring the charter into play. They run up to a marut and state that his name is not on the charter while attempting to show it to him. He does not believe them until he tries to punch through the charter. A blast erupts from the charter, melting the maruts hand. Then marut finally realizes what he's done, and he shuts down. The other inevitables, save for Dubar, also stop in their tracts.
The rest of the combat is a wash. Saraas can't defend herself against the party. The other barghests succumb to sneak attacks, Fireballs, or an enraged Morkor.
Dubar stands alone in the middle of the room, with all of his allies now dead or out of commission. He shouts, "Fine I shall put an end to this treachery. Let me see your fake charter."
When he touches the charter he says something to the extent of "No! This cannot be!" or some other junk that the bad guys usually say right as they're about to die.
Then smoke and light begins pouring out of Dubar's body. The steps back and then Dubar's body explodes with a small blast (5d6 damage to those who are within 15'). But that causes a chain reaction with the other fallen inevitables. The party then dives out of the way.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The party now stands victorious.
Kelara appears and is in bad shape. Krieg heals her.
Then the ground rumbles. The party readies themselves for anything.
Several small pinpricks of light appear throughout the room. Then they enlarge until they are big enough for a being to walk through.
Through these portals step out several being of pure good. Including one that has golden skin and is bathed in radiant light.
The next 3 days pass for the party while these new members of the garrison, including some new inevitables, sign the charter and begin repairing the local area.
This new garrison leader (no name yet) thanks the party heartily and informs them that this prison has been condemned. Once this region has been stabilized, they will begin moving to the other areas to cleanse them of evil. He hands them all some minor trinkets (like healing potions) and tells them to head northeast to find their way out, and that returning will not be possible because of the cleansing. Once the leave region E, it will most likely be unavailable to them. The same for region I soon.
Next session, the cleansing and burning of region I.
No game next week because I'll be in Toledo playing in another Texas Hold'em tournament for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
I hoped you enjoyed this read. I know the party enjoyed the evening.
I was determined to take it out on the group. Hey, they come to the game to kill things for their stress gained from the week, and so do I.
[insert evil grin here]
Justin could not make it this week because he's 20 and broke and chose to work an extra shift at his job. Now I'm torn between my experiences of having been there and my joy at mercilessly picking Justin. Dangit.
So let us begin:
Day 21 (give or take a few hours)
Room I9: The party has just finished off the twin monstrosities Anguish & Madness. Now they quickly cast healing spells and quaff healing potions.
Then they hear yelling and many footsteps and other footsteps coming from many places in the nearby dungeon. They know they only have a quick run from this room to the safety of region E and its protective wards.
After a minute of arguing, the consensus is that they don't have the strength or spells for a direct fight and they have business to deal with in the Garrison.
The door is opened and they see a 3 armed drow elf waiting.
"You don't have much time! Hand Eight Strikes Fang to me.", says Loreth.
"Why would we do that?"
"It is a weapon we need to defeat the driders. Hand me the weapon now!"
Members of the party begin to decline individually.
"Give me the weapon now or I will yell and they will take it from your corpses!"
The party makes a wise decision and Zorak hands Eight Strikes Fang over to Loreth.
"Thank you. Now run."
Region E:
Hacked up map
The party enters the region to find it utterly quiet for this section. They don't like that they have to, but they rest.
Two hours into their resting, they hear many foot steps. They see 7 wolf-sized barghests and 1 horsesized barghest. The barghests obviously notice the group but do not prepare for combat. After a minute the barghests return. This time the large one parlays with the group.
He informs the group that they are now members of "The Redeemed" and that the wise inevitable Dubar is now in charge of the Garrison. When asked about what happened Kelara and the rest of the celestials, the barghest gives vague information that led the party to thinking that she was dead.
Every two hours a patrol of barghests walks by. Each time the party is disturbed enough to force them to have ro rest an extra couple of hours.
The party believes that the celestials of the Garrison are either imprisoned or slain so they intend to prove to Dubar that he is not fulfilling the requirements of the charter he signed. What will happen after that, they do not know. But they do know that what is going on right now is not in their best interests.
Near room E43 (the 25' x 25' un-numbered room): The party opens the door to find 7 barghests and a large barghest.
The barghests greet the PCs, bid them a wonderful hello, and asks them their business. The party states that they wish to enter the charter room. The barghests politely reply that they cannot allow that to happen; direct orders from Dubar.
The group does not like this, but they fear that attacking barghests who are acting on Dubar's behalf will bring the wrath of the inevitables down upon them. So they move on.
Room E66: The party enters this room very cautiously. They seek to find supplies from Wetoq and his stores, but have no clue what to expect. What they find is another squad of barghests and a few inevitables. One of the large barghests seems to be occupying one inevitable's attention. But all eyes were on the party.
They opened the door the store rooms of Wetoq. They were rebuffed by him, stating that "I cannot waste precious resources on the likes of you."
Once again, the party decides to move on before things get ugly.
Next they head to the location where the barghests usually hide. In the hallway entry is only 1 barghest. A short parlay proves this to be another dead end.
Now the party has no choice but to find a back way into the charter room. But their personal map is no where near complete, and the map they found of the region long ago shows no obvious way of getting to that location. But they travel on, hoping an answer will present itself.
It does in the form of a small ball of light appears before them. The party knows it to be Spark (a.k.a. Augury). It begins to move away from the party and they follow. It leads them to a dead-end room that is not frequented by the barghest patrols.
The party asks many questions, and he answers them the best he can (while capable of only giving yes or no answers).
The party finds out that there are celestials alive in the charter room. The only thing keeping the barghests out the room are the glyphs, but the barghests remain to keep the celestials pinned down.
Now the party plans to take out the barghests guarding the charter room. But they have to do it quietly because if one gets out an alarm, they're doomed. Their solution; put a Silence spell on Thunderclease's axe and have him stand in the center of the room, thus preventing any alarm being put out and will keep the sounds of the combat muted.
But the barghests have one thing that will help them at the last moment - their sense of smell is as accurate as their sense of sight.
The party buffs up, including Haste and Protection from Fire (on Thunderclease).
Round 1: Thunderclease bursts through the closed door, knocking it off it's hinges. The party was betting on a round of surprise, but their scent alarmed the barghests. (What do you think this party is going to smell like after 20+ days w/o a bath?). The barghest on the other side of the door was ready for combat and was able to prevent Thunderclease from knocking him back. Zorak tosses a Fireball into the room, striking all of the barghests and Thunderclease. And because Thunderclease is stuck in the doorway, the Silence effect on his axe does not extend entirely into the room. Barghests are very intelligent and are able to deduce what is going on. The large barghest moves into a corner of the room and casts Mass Bull's Strength on his allies. Another barghest is able to get Thunderclease to succumb to a Crushing Despair spell. The other barghests converge onto Thunderclease doing nearly 40 points of damage. The rest of the party moves down the hallway but are currently unable to move any further. At least until Valden is able to bring one down.
Round 2: Thunderclease has 4 barghests around him (all softened up by Zorak's Fireball). Swing #1 (primary attack) - one barghest down. Swing #2 (Cleave feat attack) - 2nd barghest down. Swing #3 (Secondary attack) - 3rd barghest down. Swing #4 (Haste attack) - 4th barghest down.
After that show of strength, the other 3 barghests make a run for it. But end up in a dead end. The party took some minor scratches but the 3 barghests were no match for the party.
The party quickly moved to the area of the charter room.
Rooms E40-E43: After the standard "Who goes there?" shtick, the party gets into the room. Inside they find 2 bralanis, Doj & Besar, and 1 hound archon, Spers.
The three garrison members (now 4 with the return of Spark) tell the party their story:
Dubar's sanity had been rapidly deteriorating (read as - programming was swiss cheesing). He was becoming more and more aggressive in his assertions that Kelara step down and that he be put in charge. He was also constantly looking for a legal way to subvert Kelara's power, also to no avail.
A short while ago Kelara allowed him to attempt to convert a handful of evil humanoids. She had hoped that this would occupy him and keep him from being a danger to himself and others.
He called these humanoids "The Redeemed" and in spite of all the proof otherwise, he felt that all these born-evil beasts had the full potential to be brought to the side of good.
When the party returned 3 of the 4 missing ward staves directly to Kelara, his sanity finally fractured. He now began to act upon the notion of "any means to an end".
In come the barghests. He contacted them to negotiate their reform and induction into The Redeemed. Saraas, the leader of the entire barghest pack (thanks to the party killing her rival), all too readily agreed.
From that point on Saraas filled Dubar's mind with even more madness.
Dubar called out one more time for Kelara to step down. She declined. Then he unveiled his new recruits. Over 2 dozen barghests poored into the great hall (room E66). Kelara snapped that Dubar had gone too far. But it was too late. All of the inevitables' programming had been deteriorating. Each one had become solely focused on their individual duties and had become blind to their original goals.
Kelara and her handful of true garrison-members number under 2 dozen. They could not fight this threat. She surrendered under Dubar's oath that they not be harmed. He agreed.
That was less than a day ago. Since then the 3 of them had been hiding out in this room, hoping to think of a way to save Kelara and return things to normal.
For the next hour (real time) the party plans on what to do. After Dalron plays Devil's Advocate, they realize that convincing Dubar that what he is doing is wrong won't work, and using truth enforcing spells will be worthless against Saraas as she can easily avoid the questions, or even give misleading, but honest answers.
Finally they take a close look at the garrison charter. They note that none of the inevitables' have their name on the charter. Spers confirms that they did sign the charter, and that could only mean that they no longer follow the charter.
The party then re-read the charter in the hopes of finding something they could use. The oaths boil down to:
- Always do what is right.
- To defend the weak.
- Always help your brothers in arms.
- Never relent to evil.
- And if a person who has signed the charter ever turns on its tenets that person shall be struck with a vengeance should they ever touch the charter again.
...That sentence is followed by the sound of Jeff smacking himself in the forehead...
They now have the beginnings of a plan, so they rest and heal up.
The 6 party members, Spark, Doj (who now carries the charter), Besar, and Spers move off to confront Dubar and his allies.
Room E66: The party bursts into the room and sees...
2 kolaryut inevitables (1 is Dubar)
3 marut inevitables
14 barghests
3 greater barghests (1 is Saraas)
Krieg: "Dubar your name no longer appears on the charter..."
Saraas: "They lie and you know it. They are here to usurp your rightful power."
Dubar: "Destroy them."
(Party enters from the eastern doorway. Looooong combat timewise - facts are fuzzy. Standard buffs are in use. Additionally Zorak cast Greater Invisibility on Dalron and Torin.)
Round 1: Thunderclease rushes into the room. Zorak nukes the barghests as the near end of the hallway. Some barghest get Bull's Strength cast on them. Other barghests get Enlarged. Thunderclease gets swarmed on all sides and loses half his hitpoints in one round. The inevitables move forward to engage the party but cannot get there because of distance and a crowded battlefield. Several of the party call for a retreat. Krieg retreats believing the others will follow.
Round 2: Thunderclease is surrounded but is able to once again drop 4 barghests. Dalron moves in and is able to sneak attack a greater barghest and brings it down. The celestials move into the room, believing that this may be their only chance and if they fail, Kelara will be killed (they know she is not because her candle is still lit). Over half of the party is now in the room. The other half are still confused as to what they need to do. Zorak tosses a Fireball at the other end of the hall, softening up several more barghests. Krieg returns.
Round 3: Thunderclease and Dalron continue their slaughter of barghests, and Torin and Valden join them. Zorak lobs another Fireball at the barghests in the west. Krieg begins his standard "heals on wheels" action. The door at the western end bursts open. It is reinforcements. But this time for the party. Morkor, Kelara's mate, has been waiting for this moment to free Kelara. But there are still 5 inevitables to deal with. One of the Marut's gets a single hit on Valden for about 15 points of damage.
Round 4: The celestials bring the charter into play. They run up to a marut and state that his name is not on the charter while attempting to show it to him. He does not believe them until he tries to punch through the charter. A blast erupts from the charter, melting the maruts hand. Then marut finally realizes what he's done, and he shuts down. The other inevitables, save for Dubar, also stop in their tracts.
The rest of the combat is a wash. Saraas can't defend herself against the party. The other barghests succumb to sneak attacks, Fireballs, or an enraged Morkor.
Dubar stands alone in the middle of the room, with all of his allies now dead or out of commission. He shouts, "Fine I shall put an end to this treachery. Let me see your fake charter."
When he touches the charter he says something to the extent of "No! This cannot be!" or some other junk that the bad guys usually say right as they're about to die.
Then smoke and light begins pouring out of Dubar's body. The steps back and then Dubar's body explodes with a small blast (5d6 damage to those who are within 15'). But that causes a chain reaction with the other fallen inevitables. The party then dives out of the way.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The party now stands victorious.
Kelara appears and is in bad shape. Krieg heals her.
Then the ground rumbles. The party readies themselves for anything.
Several small pinpricks of light appear throughout the room. Then they enlarge until they are big enough for a being to walk through.
Through these portals step out several being of pure good. Including one that has golden skin and is bathed in radiant light.
The next 3 days pass for the party while these new members of the garrison, including some new inevitables, sign the charter and begin repairing the local area.
This new garrison leader (no name yet) thanks the party heartily and informs them that this prison has been condemned. Once this region has been stabilized, they will begin moving to the other areas to cleanse them of evil. He hands them all some minor trinkets (like healing potions) and tells them to head northeast to find their way out, and that returning will not be possible because of the cleansing. Once the leave region E, it will most likely be unavailable to them. The same for region I soon.
Next session, the cleansing and burning of region I.
No game next week because I'll be in Toledo playing in another Texas Hold'em tournament for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
I hoped you enjoyed this read. I know the party enjoyed the evening.
posted by BlueBlackRed at 9:17 AM
3 Comments:
I always love reading your blog. I also reference to the maps at rpgmp3.com (so I am not so lost) Keep up the good work. Note that I read the adventure and play online texas holdem. not so sure it is good for my game ..... anyway good luck next weekend.
Isn't Spers a Bralani, not a Hound Archon?
Probably.
Several times I have written a session entry while at work and without having the module with me.
Inaccuracies are bound to happen.
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