Game Recap: Princes of the Apocalypse Session 3–The Temple of Sacred Stone

Dramatis Personae

Glidion: High Elf Wizard (Enchanter) who exaggerates stories of his past triumphs. Unwitting pawn of the Zhentarim.

Gracealyn “Darkeyes” Droverson: Tethyarian Human Noble Fighter (Champion) who seeks to restore her lost family fortunes.  Member of the Lords Alliance.

Milo Miller: Lightfoot Halfling Cleric of Pelor (Life Domain). Seeks to spread worship of his god to Faerun.  Watcher of the Harpers.

Salazar Tomoki: Shou Human Monk (Way of the Open Hand).  Hermit who walks Faerun seeking enlightenment like Caine from Kung Fu.

Wrenna: Forest Gnome Rogue (Thief).  Little is known of Wrenna’s past other then that she has been on the wrong side of the law from a young age.

Recap

Having defeated the gargoyles and deciding that their suspicions about the monastery being a haven for evil were correct, the party decided to throw caution to the wind.  Well, not entirely to the wind as Wrenna snuck a peak into the central temple area prior to the group kicking open the doors.  Wrenna reported that there were a priest and two guards inside gathered around an altar at the far end, with four large columns of natural stone dominating the room and a large set of stairs heading down in the center.

The party seized the initiative and attacked.  Glidion lead the attack with a fireball to “soften them up”, followed quickly by the a fleet-footed and stealthy Salazar armed with shurikens.  Wrenna used her bow to great effect while Darkeyes was less effective with her javelin as she tried to close the gap.  Milo used a guiding bolt of magic to both attack and assist his comrades.  Glidion was able to take down the weakened priest and guards using magic to put them to sleep.

Tying the three up, they proceeded to wake the priest and interrogate him.  The priest, a man named Qarbo, was quite talkative if openly contemptuous of his captors.  He told the group that no matter what they did, they could not stop the rise of the Cult of the Black Earth.  When asked if the Cult of Black Earth was behind the attack on the party by monks wearing wingwear, he spat and said those “vulture riding fools from the Cult of Howling Hatred” were weak and would be “the first to fall when the Black Earth ascended”.  When asked what was below, Qarbo told the party to “go down and find out, but do not be surprised if the Black Earth devours you.” Having enough of his attitude, Darkeyes literally picked him up by the ankles and shook him, and was gratified when a pair of keys on a chain around his neck fell to the ground.

Meanwhile the group discovered a bronze lever close to the altar.  Wrenna could not determine its purpose, but Glidion had a hypotheses it might have to do with the stairs.  Deciding to test this, the party placed the three tied up cultists on the edge of the stairs.  Qarbo was asked if he had anything to say before the lever was pulled.  While he looked nervous, he did not give the party any more information.  The lever was pulled, the stairs collapsed, and the three cultists slid into the darkness below.  More mechanical noises were heard in the distance, followed by screams, followed by a clacking, scrabbling noise as the umber hulk below tried to make it up the ramp.  The party decided it was best to explore elsewhere.

Leaving out the small doors to the west, the party entered a hallway with Wrenna in the lead.  Her sensitive gnomish nose detected the smell of baking bread.  Making their way through the empty dining area, the group entered the kitchen where four monks in dun colored robes were preparing food.  Seeing the party they hastily donned gargoyle masks and attacked.  The monks proved no match for the party however, and once they were vanquished the party use the opportunity to restock their provisions.  The deceased monks were also liberated of their robes and masks.

Heading back out the way they came and travelling south, Wrenna listened at a door and heard some people speaking in what she thought was a dialect of dwarvish.  Darkeyes decided to have a little fun, donned a gargoyle mask, put a (poorly fitting) robe over her armor, and charged into the room to attack.  The dwarves, actually duergar, were taken off guard by this unorthodox attack. Only three of the six duergar in the room were awake and the group worked to push their advantage while they could.  Two of the duergar used the strange powers innate to their race to grow to gigantic proportions.  Regardless, the party took the day and defeated the evil dwarves.

Continuing their explorations, the party found another dormitory with four sleeping monks who were slaughtered before they were even fully awake.  The group then discovered the sleeping quarters of the priest and his guards they encountered earlier.  One of the keys they had liberated from the priest opened an iron coffer containing priestly vestments, gold bracelets, and several magical scrolls which were claimed by Glidion.

To be continued…

Game Recap: Princes of the Apocalypse Session 2-Manticore Hunt

Dramatis Personae

Glidion: High Elf Wizard (Enchanter) who exaggerates stories of his past triumphs. Unwitting pawn of the Zhentarim.

Gracealyn “Darkeyes” Droverson: Tethyarian Human Noble Fighter (Champion) who seeks to restore her lost family fortunes.  Member of the Lords Alliance.

Milo Miller: Lightfoot Halfling Cleric of Pelor (Life Domain). Seeks to spread worship of his god to Faerun.  Watcher of the Harpers.

Salazar Tomoki: Shou Human Monk (Way of the Open Hand).  Hermit who walks Faerun seeking enlightenment like Caine from Kung Fu.

Wrenna: Forest Gnome Rogue (Thief).  Little is known of Wrenna’s past other then that she has been on the wrong side of the law from a young age.

Recap

Arriving in Red Larch, the group traveled through the village, taking note of the various shops.  Salazar made a quick trip into Lorren’s Bakery to pick up a mushroom cheese-topped bun for Wrenna.  These smelled so good that the weary travelers soon all stopped at the bakery to indulge in this savory treat.

Continuing to the Allfaiths shrine, the party met the two intendant priests: Imdarr Relvaunder a stout follower of Tempus (god of war) and Lymmura Auldarhk a follower of Sune (goddess of beauty and love).  Imdarr seemed a little put off by Sister Garaele’s decision to become a third intendant at the shrine since traditionally only two priests act as intendants at any given time.  Lymmura however welcomed Sister Garaele with open arms and offered to share her cell with the young acolyte of Tymora for the duration of her stay.

The group then pressed on to Bethendur’s Storage to drop off Gundren Rockseeker’s platinum ingots for eventual pickup by a caravan headed to Secomber.  There they met Aerego Bethendur who was quick to tell them that his storage offered absolute privacy and that anything stored here would not be disturbed unless it started to rot; even then the contents would be disposed of discretely.  When Glidion asked if that happen often Aerego simply said, “Not often”.

At this point the group sought out a tavern and ended up at the Helm at Highsun.  Once again the group heard rumors of missing people, in this case a well armed delegation from Mirabar.  A half-orc named Zomith invited herself to the party’s table and immediately displayed an interest in Glidion.  The noble elf was more intimidated by her advances then aroused, but he did learn that the caravan Zomith had been travelling with had encountered the Mirabaran delegation about fifteen days ago somewhere between Beliard and Westbridge, and that she had brawled with the Mirabaran guards during the encounter.  When she offered to discuss things in more detail with Glidion “in private”, the elf beat a hasty retreat.

Late in the evening the party bought rooms at the Swinging Sword across the street.  The proprietor of the inn, an Illuskan woman in her forties named Kaylessa Irkell, was grateful to see a well-armed party of adventures in town and expressed her hope that they would put an end to the “fell magic” that was sweeping through the Slumber Hills.  When they mentioned the missing Mirabaran delegation, she introduced them to Brother Eardon a half-elf acolyte of Lathandar (god of the dawn).  Brother Eardon had recently came from Beliard by way of Westbridge, and confirmed that the delegation was in Beliard two tendays ago.  The group resolved to travel the Larch Path to Beliard in search of the missing delegation in the morning.

Heading down the Larch Path, the group was distracted from this quest when they realized they were getting close to Feathergale Spire.  Intrigued by the wingwear they found on the monks who attacked them earlier and curious about the Feathergale Society they left the path and travelled into the Slumber Hills.  They arrived at Feathergale Spire in the evening. 

The spire was separated from the road by a cliff with a shear drop of hundreds of feet.  A brass bell hung from a wooden post near the ledge, and when they rang the bell a knight of the Feathergale Society named Savra Belabranta opened a small window near the gate and asked the adventurers what their purpose was at the spire.  Convinced that their intentions were peaceful, she invited them in and brought them up to the pinnacle of the Spire to meet the Feathergale Society’s leader Thurl Merosska.

Thurl greeted the party and asked them their business.  The party described their encounter with the wingwear wearing monks and asked if it was possible if any suits of wingwear had been stolen from them recently.  Thurl declined to answer, but since the party seemed to be men and women of valor he invited them to join in the feast that below.

The party partook in the grand feast and traded stories of valor.  As the feast was winding down, a knight burst into the room stating that a manticore had been sighted over the valley.  Thurl believed this to be an opportunity to slay the beast and offered his ring to the man or woman who brought back its head.  He asked the party if they wished to partake in the hunt, offering them hippogriffs to use.  The party agreed to join the hunt and mounted on three hippogriffs with Wrenna and Milo doubling up with larger party members.  The Feathergale Society knights mounted on giant vultures.

The beast was quickly spotted and the knights and the party took chase.  Glidion caused a great deal of damage by loosing fireballs on the manticore from afar and Darkeyes proved a dead shot with her javelins.  Salazar found himself frustrated by his lack of ability to engage at range, but Wrenna’s shortbow found its mark.  The beast was brought down by Darkeyes’ final javelin, falling to the ground below.  The party followed it down and Darkeyes used her axe to remove the dead beast’s head.

Returning to the Spire, Darkeyes was awarded Thurl’s ring.  After the feast, Thurl confided to the party that he believed the monks of the Sacred Stone Monastery were a source of the evil in the valley. The party choose to spend the night in Feathergale Spire and resolved to check out the monastery in the morning. 

During the night, Salazar was awakened by Savra.  Salazar explained that because of his vows he was not interested in an assignation, but Savra patiently explained that was not why she was there.  She was impressed by the valor of the group and wanted to confide the true purpose of the Feathergale Society: that they are on a secret mission to master elemental air to annihilate the enemies of Waterdeep.  She was telling Salazar this because she was going to approach Thurl about allowing Salazar, and possibly his companions, to join the Feathergale Society.  Salazar, and the rest of the group when he told them the next morning, said they would think about it.

The next morning the group headed off to find the Sacred Stone Monastery.  While travelling through the Slumber Hills, they came upon a number of shallow graves with vultures circling overhead.  After some debate, the party decided to exhume the bodies to see if they could be identified as any of the missing people they had heard about.  They found one dwarf in artisan’s robes and one female human dressed as a member of Mirabar’s army.  They also found one human male dressed in a black cloak with strange stony armor and one human male in white robes with black feathers at the shoulders.  All were dead from arrow wounds or crushing blows.  Convinced that at least two of the bodies were from the Mirabar delegation, they reburied the bodies and Milo performed funerary rites.

Continuing down the path described by Thurl, the party came upon the Sacred Stone Monastery around noon the next day.  An impressive stone edifice, the group decided rather than knock on the front door they would look for a secondary entrance.  Locating one on the southeast portion of the building, Wrenna examined the door and picked the lock.

Wrenna scouted ahead of the main group, who are not well known for their stealth.  At the first interior door she heard the sounds of people sparring, similar to the katas that Salazar would do in the morning.  She decided to leave this door alone for the moment and motioned for the group to move forward. 

The next door was sealed by an arcane lock.  Having no way to bypass the mystical protections, the group moved past this door as well. Wrenna then discovered stairs going down, but the party decided to continue exploring the upper level before braving the depths below. 

Continuing forward they group entered a long narrow open air courtyard paved in red sandstone.  To the north of them was the main temple area with large copper-sheathed doors and as well as another set of doors to the west.  Gargoyle statues guarded each set of doors.  Glidion expressed his concern, noting that “gargoyle statues always seem to come to life”.  Giving the statues as wide a berth as possible the party approached the copper-sheathed doors.

Of course the gargoyles came to life and attacked, although contrary to Glidion’s expectations only two of them became animate.  Showing uncharacteristic bravery, Glidion moved forward an loosed a lighting bolt on the two gargoyles.   Salazar was able to use his newly acquired magical Yari to good effect against the creatures stone-like skin, while Darkeyes’ reliable magic axe Hew caused similar grievous wounds. The gargoyles were quickly dispatched.

The party then prepared to check out the copper-sheathed doors to the temple.

To be continued…

Game Recap: Princes of the Apocalypse Session 1–The Road to Red Larch

 

Dramatis Personae

Glidion: High Elf Wizard (Enchanter) who exaggerates stories of his past triumphs. Unwitting pawn of the Zhentarim.

Gracealyn “Darkeyes” Droverson: Tethyarian Human Noble Fighter (Champion) who seeks to restore her lost family fortunes.  Member of the Lords Alliance.

Milo Miller: Lightfoot Halfling Cleric of Pelor (Life Domain). Seeks to spread worship of his god to Faerun.  Watcher of the Harpers.

Salazar Tomoki: Shou Human Monk (Way of the Open Hand).  Hermit who walks Faerun seeking enlightenment like Caine from Kung Fu.

Wrenna: Forest Gnome Rogue (Thief).  Little is known of Wrenna’s past other then that she has been on the wrong side of the law from a young age.

Recap

The group was enjoying some well deserved rest after successfully locating the Lost Mine of Phandelver.  Well everyone was resting except for Salazar.  During meditation, he was troubled by reoccurring visions of a large unblinking eye.

The party was approached by their friend and occasional employer Gundren Rockseeker.  Since reopening the Wave Echo Mine, he had one major problem: Phandalin was simply not large enough to provide a suitable market place for the raw platinum ore him and his two (remaining) brothers were extracting.  Gundren asked it the group would be willing to escort a shipment of ore to Bethendur’s Storage in Red Larch, where it will be picked up by a caravan bound for Secomber.  The market for platinum ingots is quite good in more easterly lands and Gundren anticipates he will make a tidy profit.

Before they leave, Milo is approached by Sister Garaele.  She has been having visions of her own, and has decided that they are directing her to become an intendant at the Allfaiths Shrine in Red Larch.  She wishes to travel with the group to Red Larch for mutual protection.  She also implores the group to make a stop along the way at the ruined village of Conyberry in hopes of questioning the reputedly prophetic but twisted groaning spirit Agatha.

Heading west down the Triboar Trail, the group reaches the ruins of Conyberry.  The group follows the northwest trail to a strange hut made from the warped branches of nearby trees.  The party could hear sobbing emanating from the hut and cautiously approached.

The sobbing was coming from a ghostly child, sitting among the ruined remains of a bed inside. Sister Garaele, Milo, and Salazar approached while Wrenna, Glidion, and Darkeyes remained outside the hut.  The sobbing girl was incoherent, babbling “you shouldn’t be here” and “she won’t like it that you are here”.  The party tried to comfort her, but the spirit became angry before screaming “she’s here!” and transforming into the banshee Agatha.

Agatha admonished the party for bothering the child and told them that they would pay for their insolence.  She called forth the child’s “brothers and sisters”, four will-o’-wisps which rose from the swamp. Initially, the party was loathe to engage the spirit, still hoping to calm it down and reason with it.  The creature then let out a horrifying wail which scarred their very souls and left Sister Garaele and Milo hovering on death’s door.

Salazar focused on the banshee, although his blows were somewhat less effective against the incorporeal creature.  The rest of the party engaged the fast moving will-o’-wisps.  Things were looking grim as both healers were down and the undead inflicted grievous injuries on their living foes.  The tide turned when Glidion managed to make his way to the Milo, and forced a potion of healing down the throat of the fallen cleric.  With Milo’s divine magic to revitalize them, the party was quickly able to turn the tide and dispatch the unclean spirits.

After Agatha and the wisps were vanquished, the ghost child reappeared.  The child claimed to have been born with the gift of prophesy and that Agatha had been charged with keeping her safe.  However, the elf eventually grew obsessive and her extreme methods led to the child’s death.  Unhinged, Agatha began finding other “special children” to protect, who’s spirits became the will-o’-wisps when the tragic cycle inevitably repeated.  Because of her evil deeds, when Agatha was killed by the same Elk Tribe barbarians that destroyed Conyberry, she rose as a banshee.  Over the years Agatha’s grip on sanity became even more tenuous and eventually she became convinced she was the same child she had killed all those years ago.

The ghost child, or maybe the innocence left in Agatha, thanked the party for allowing her to “move on”.  She offered to answer any one question posed to her utilizing her second sight.  The party decided to allow Garaele to speak.  The young acolyte asked about her dreams and how she could stop the rise of the unblinking eye.  The spirit somewhat sadly said that the only slim hope was in the hands of her current companions—either they would stop the rise of the eye or no one would.

Uncertain what to make of this, the party searched the hut.  They eventually found the skeletal remains of Agatha and of several small children which they buried.  They also found a small chest which contained a diamond ring and a philter of love.

The party continued down the Triboar trail, eventually reaching Triboar itself.  Sister Garaele and Milo’s Harper contacts allowed them to stay at the Home of the Boars, a lodge slightly outside of Triboar proper.  There they met Darathara Shendrel and her companions ‘the Twelve’.  Darathara takes Milo and Garaele aside to tell them her concerns that people have gone missing.  A half-elf adventurer named Grevor and his companions are over a tenday overdue.  Additionally, two important merchants from Waterdeep, Kharloss and Jarlee, have been missing even longer.

After a well deserved night of rest, the party turned off the Triboar trail and headed south down the Long Road.  While traveling through a ravine, the party was set ambushed by a group of strangely garbed monks.  Their outfits had leathery flaps which stretched between their arms, waist, and legs that allowed them to glide from the top of the ravine to surround the party.  The outfits caused Glidion to derisively refer them as “squirrel monks” due to their resemblance to flying squirrels.

The leader, a cold-eyed woman wielding a strange looking spear that Salazar identified as a yari, demanded that the group throw down their weapons and surrender.  Unfortunately for the monks they had underestimated their opponents. Despite the fact that they were escorting a pair of oxen pulling a cart, these were not paid caravan guards but battle-hardened adventurers.  The battle was brief and violent, and the party ultimately captured one of the monks alive.

The monk was not very forthcoming, but did answer some questions.  When asked about Grevor, Kharloss, and Jarlee he stated he did not know the names but that perhaps “they now serve”.  He called the adventures fools who had no idea what was going on and that they would end up dying or serving the new order.  Eventually he would speak no more and simply said the group should either kill him and be done with it or let him go.  Darkeyes meted out grim justice to the monk with her enchanted axe.

Salazar claimed the yari by right of battle.  It was enchanted and had “Zephyr” engraved on the blade in the Shou language.  Wrenna had ‘liberated’ a scroll case from the leader in battle.  It seemed to contain many of the teachings of this monastic order.  They learned to pattern their movements after the cycling motion of the hurricane, which is how they refer to themselves.  Although he found many of their teachings perverse, Salazar did gain inspiration from some of their techniques.  Glidion gathered the strange leather outfits from the deceased “squirrel monks” and took note of the symbol on them, an inverted triangle with three branching lines above it.

The party continued south down the Long Road, eventually reaching Westbridge, staying at the Harvest Inn.  While there, the group was disturbed to hear of more recent disappearances.  The whole town was abuzz about the Oric and Lathna, siblings who were abducted by raiders from a homestead a short distance outside town.  The proprietor of the Harvest Inn, an affable halfling named Herivin Dardragon, also expressed concern about one of his regulars, a shield dwarf prospector named Wulgreda.  While he could not prove she was missing, she had not stopped by in a very long time.

After leaving Westbridge, the group encountered a group of mounted knights on the road led by a knight named Sir Gerald.  Darkeyes identified them by their heraldry as the Knights of Samular, an order dedicated to Tyr, god of justice.  After establishing their good intentions, the two groups spoke about the rash of missing people.  Glidion told them to watch out for anyone wearing the strange leather suits they found the monks in.  Sir Gerald identified the outfits as wingwear, which he was only familiar with because the Knights of the Feathergale Society used similar outfits.  As far as Sir Gerald knows, the Feathergale group is an honorable one, if somewhat pampered and rich.  Sir Gerald could not identify the symbol on the wingwear, but he had seen it before at the sites of some of the kidnappings.  Sir Gerald also took the opportunity to sketch out three other symbols he had encountered during his investigations.

Sir Gerald and his men bid the party adieu.  He did invite them to come to Summit Hall in the future and recommended they speak to the Feathergale Society about the wingwear.  The party continued down the Long Road, knowing that Red Larch was less then a day away.  

So the Lords of Tyr tried out the Dragon Age RPG…

While I am not the video game fanatic that my wife is (few people are), I do enjoy playing them from time to time.  One of my favorite video game franchises at the moment is the Dragon Age series.  So I have been curious about the pen and paper incarnation of the franchise for awhile, but only bit the bullet with the recently released Dragon Age RPG Core Rulebook, which combines and expands the rules from the previous three sets that Green Ronin has produced.

The basic mechanic of the system will be familiar to anyone who plays RPGs.  Roll some dice (in this case 3d6 instead of a d20), add the appropriate ability modifier, and then compare it to a target number.  Nothing out of the ordinary there.

The most innovative concept introduced in the Dragon Age RPG is the stunt system.  You are rolling 3d6 for most rolls in this system, and whenever you roll doubles, you generate stunt points.  How many stunt points depends on your dragon die (one die of a different color).  You can then use those stunt points immediately to do something cool, like get an extra attack, push an opponent back, or even perform multiple stunts together if you have enough points.

I was intrigued by the stunt system and was curious how it would function in actual play.  I also wondered what gamers who were unfamiliar with the Dragon Age video games would think of the system and the world.

So I gathered together some of my fellow Lords of Tyr and decided to run Duty Unto Death, the introductory adventure featured on Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop.  Only one of my players was at all familiar with the Dragon Age video games, so I figured they would be a good group to evaluate the game on its merits without affection for the franchise seeping in.

The group quickly divvyed up the pregens, a Ferelden Freeman warrior, a Dalish Elf rogue, and a Human Circle Mage.  Because they were new to Dragon Age, I spent some time discussing the world and how they fit into it.  Luckily, the introductory adventure made this easy, as the characters were all new recruits to the Grey Wardens, and it begins with Duncan explaining key concepts like darkspawn and the Blight to the characters.

The first combat was very interesting.  Stunts came up a lot more frequently then I expected and really added a bit of variety to the “I hit it with my axe” rut that fighter heavy games can fall into.  It also forced the group to think tactically, especially as it was discovered how squishy the non-armored circle mage could be when darkspawn closed in on him.

(The circle mage also learned the importance of the rock armor spell from this combat, and he became a bit obsessed about keeping it up as much as possible since it is not a spell that can really be cast once combat has begun because of its long casting time.)

Because the game started a bit late, we only were able to fit in one more combat encounter in the session. By this time the group was pretty acclimated to the rules, and were really looking forward to stunts when they came up.

After the session, feedback was pretty positive.  Stephanie, still the newest gamer in this particular group despite having years of experience at this point, gave the most positive review.  She liked the stunt system, but seemed even more intrigued by the setting, which she thought had a lot of depth.  So I guess that is more of a thumbs up to Bioware, which created the Dragon Age setting for their video games.

All and all, it proved to be a very fun session.  It probably won’t become our regular game, as the group is pretty invested in the two long-term campaigns we currently are running, but I can definitely see us returning to it as time permits.

Scales of War Game Recap VIII-July 12th, 2009

Normally I would post the game recap up at Lords of Tyr, but the website seems to be having issues at the moment.  I will post a link to here when it is back up and running.

I would like to thank Rook103 for writing this recap.  I was unable to attend the Lords of Tyr game this weekend due to pesky real life reasons, so Rook103 graciously took up the pen.

If I am feeling cheeky later, I may have to write up The Adventures of Almirith in Camp.

Recap

Stormlords (Present)

Samantha (Halfling Rogue) - Storm Chaser - Todd

Wardren (Half-Elf Paladin) - John

Niles (Drow Bard) - Purple Rain - Brian

Duamerthrax (Dwarf Beastmaster Ranger) w. White Wolf Deifenbacker- The Twin Storms - TJ

Hurricane (Human Wizard) - Starts Out Slow and Ends in Disaster- Tony

Vala (Elf Druid) - Stephanie

Syed (Halfling Pirate) - Mike T

Stormlords (Not Present)

Almirith (Eladrin Warlord) - The Approaching Storm - Robert

Tuldil'el (Genasi Cleric of the Raven Queen) - The Calm Before the Storm - Mike D

Nebin (Halfling Fighter) - Ashby

The party retreated to the camp, to rest for the evening. Almirith remained at camp as the rest of the party prepared to return to the Ettercap room. Moving through the room the party accessed a newer part of the dungeon.

"Von Adrez-Kauthin Crypt Crypt"

Combat Round 1:

The party enters the room to discover five hobgoblin guards and some spitting drakes.

Syed's deadeye opens the round and drops a hobgoblin with a headshot. A sneaky foul smelling goblin launches a vexing cloud obfuscating the party's vision. The party leaped from the cloud and launched themselves against the villains. The drakes spit and snapped and the party slashed and shot until several hobgoblin minions fell. Niles sings a new song (something about a tale of the sea, that Syed took offense to) and is beaten quite bloody for his efforts (Syed seriously considered putting Niles out of his misery, but at the top of the next round decided on another course of action).

Combat Round 2:

To begin, Syed exploded the goblin's head with pistol shot. Vala followed up with a mauling strike against a drake. Warden seeing the tide of the fight turn around, delivers a mighty blow to a drake with his great axe. Duamerthrax creeps up behind the middle drake and attempts to circumcise it (apparently it’s really a circle strike, but it came out…well you get the idea). Niles continues his sea chantey and remains bloodied for his trouble (Syed remained quite annoyed at the landlubber’s blasphemy). To increase the level of irritation he taunts a well-cultured hobgoblin. Rather then gouge out its own eardrums, the hobgoblin stabs itself through the heart, expiring immediately. A bloodied drake snaps at Warden and takes a small bite out of his calf. Another drake attempts to take off Niles hand but chokes on its own tongue, rather then taste the sourness of talentless flesh. Sam blasts a drake with a dazing blow. Hurricane, cowering in the corner, flung his most potent offensive tool, a magic missle, at a drake. A drake seeing its chance to slay the wailing cat-thing drow, spits at him. Niles, in taking a bow, avoids the attack.

Combat Round 3:

Syed kills the stunned drake with a pistol shot to the brain pan. Vala performs another fierce and flamboyant grasping claws attack, but to no avail. Wardren, his great axe still dripping with the blood of the vanquished, strikes the drake menacing him. Duamerthrax and Deifenbacker move in and with Wardren pin the drake against the wall and properly circumcise it. Niles spits all over himself in some drakish language and the drake is now enthralled with him. Sam, like David before him (her), delivered death by a sling bullet to the last drake. Rejoice! The party is victorious!

Out of combat:

Room is filled with bas reliefs of merchant type activates. Sam lifts a key from the goblin corpse and with Syed's help is able to identify it as a shackle master key. The party takes a short rest and then decides to take the left door after staking the other 2 doors closed. Approaching the door, Wardren and Duamerthax hear pleas for salvation. Hurricane, in his cowardly way stepped out of the possible blast range, just in case. Sam steps up to check the door, declaring it free of traps. Then he (she) opens the door, insisting that Almirith would want to rescue whomever was within. Inside the room, the party sees three low sarcophagi (like bas reliefs) and a woman (Jalissa) shackled to the wall. Jalissa asks to be freed. Duamerthax frees Jalissa using the key that Hurricane recovered from the goblin. Jalissa ignores the dwarf, flinches upon seeing the drow and runs straight into the arms of the paladin. After sobbing to be returned home she informs the party that an eight-year-old boy Thurdren (a thief of foodstuffs) is around here somewhere. She also said that the hobgoblins, had abducted her. Syed offers the girl a flask to calm her nerves. Syed also is beginning to wonder why the paladin doesn’t bed the talling girl. Perhaps somewhere within the Paladin’s vows and sacrifices he agreed to give up his …. I mean become a eunuch? Wardren takes the girl back to camp and Almirith's care (no passion there either, the fey don’t mix with the commoners). The sarcophagi are loaded with treasure (2 parcels worth). (695 xp--now listed on the Google Docs XP tab)

The party unpins the middle doorway to reveal a huge complex. Almirith's squire moves forth to investigate. He (she) moves down the stairs to find a very still pool of water. As he (she) was moving back into the hallway, the door to the party's left opened and a horde of undead burst into the halls. Sam stands in the middle of the hallway, eyes wide, and wetting him(her)self.

Combat Round 1:

Duamerthrax critically cleaves through the leading zombie returning it to its unholy rest. Niles sings out a jaunty drow tune, half the party contemplates suicide. All decide that being devoured by the undead is reason enough to fight even with the drow singing! A ghoul bites down on the ranger, sampling dwarf flesh and Duamerthrax is paralyzed with shock. Warden seeing the unholy abominations rushes into the fray, slamming a ghoul back into the room. The ghoul retaliates by grabbing the paladin and ordering the zombies to feast on the holy blight. The partner ghoul's jaw clamps down on the paladin's arm and subdues him. Syed puts a pistol shot between Niles legs (missing the family jewels by an gnat's wing) to punish a front rank zombie (z2). A zombie (z1) sees wolf flesh as a treat.

Combat Round 2:

Duamerthrax takes offense and belts it for touching the wolf. Warden enjoys his time as a ghoul sandwich. Not much fun, but no real damage either. Sam scales the walls and proceeds to pelt the undead with his (her) blinding dagger of death. He (she) slays a bloodied zombie, blinding to zombies, and scaring several ghouls. A zombie (z4) tries to slam into the paladin. Sam falls spectacularly to the ground as his (her) boots fail. [The ghoul rips a section of the paladin's neck out and throws his now dying body to the ground.] {History rewrite} Having missed Niles attack, the ghoul is now insulted and the Wardren receives a surge of health from the drow. The ghoul attacks again, but finds the taste of paladin flesh too rich enough for seconds. The paladin collapses (*again if you believe in time-space travel). Syed drills one of the offending ghouls with another pistol shot. The ghoul with the newly acquired lead accessory (bullet shaped) in his shoulder, steps over the paladin's body and thrashes Duamerthrax. Sam tosses a dagger with flourish and slays the blinded ghoul. In its death throws the ghoul attempts to defile the paladin one last time. Hurricane finding a use for the magical Staff heaves a critical blow against several of the abominations. Drawing upon his reserves, Hurricane presses the attack...

Combat Round 3:

The Ranger slays a ghoul with a mighty strike. The last ghoul's claws bounce off the paladin's mail armor. Wardren, feeling divine inspiration, rises up from near death to separate the ghoul's lower body from its upper. Rejoice the party is victorious again, but not without spilling much of its own blood.

Moving into the room. The party discovered a black sun marking on the floor. Sam walks past the floor mosaic to check the far side of the room. The floor is quite rickety and will require the party to pass one at a time.(162 xp)

Official Game Recap for the June 7th session up at Lords of Tyr

This is just a quick post to let everyone know the game recap for the June 7th World Wide Game day D&D session is up at Lords of Tyr. 

The recap summarizes last session's run through the second part of module H1: Keep on the Shadowfell.  So if you are planning on attending the June 14th session and missed the last session, it might be a good idea to read up on it.

On the other hand, if you are not part of our gaming group and want to avoid spoilers about H1: Keep on the Shadowfell, it is still a good idea to avoid it!

Official Game Recap for the May 24th session up at Lords of Tyr

This is just a quick post to let everyone know the game recap for the May 24th D&D session is up at Lords of Tyr, along with the uStream Video (as always). 

The recap summarizes last session's run through the first part of module H1: Keep on the Shadowfell.  So if you are planning on attending the special D&D Worldwide Gameday session and missed the last session, it might be a good idea to read up on it.

On the other hand, if you are not part of our gaming group and want to avoid spoilers about H1: Keep on the Shadowfell, maybe you should avoid it!