Tomb of Abysthor: Epilogue

Recap from late 2005 to early 2006

During the parley with the Evil Elven Sorceress, she agreed to let us pass through her domains if we would help her to defeat her enemy, a rival litch wizard.  So after passing through her domains, we entered his realm and battled through a large group of stirges amongst other foes.  We eventually came across a large group of Priests of Orcus (around seven or so) that were obviously scouting out this area in an effort to strike a bargain with the wizard litch thing.  We had a Wood Elf Grugah warrior wizard with us at the time who cast a Web spell on the evil cultists (Holzabog was once again not present) and the group easily killed them.  Later, we entered a permanently darkened corridor and were attacked by a group of albino apes that hurt us pretty badly because we couldn't see them as they attacked us in the dark but we managed to persevere against them.  We never found the wizard litch thing but we did manage to get through his domains eventually and on to other areas of the tomb.

Later, the remaining knights of the Bitter Rose returned to the locked door on the second level of the Tomb to battle the remaining cultists but found the place eerily quiet and cleared of all of the bodies.  The only evidence of the previous battle was the blackened, scarred and burned walls and doors in the hallway from all of the fireballs.  They proceeded down to the end of the hall and entered a chamber that had several tapestries hanging on the walls.  Their numbers were few at this point - the paladin was in the process of being resurrected after having been killed in the previous battle.  The primary player character group had fallen back to Rahanna to recover from getting burned by the fireballs of the Sorceress previously so it was only a group of four knights and four of their henchmen (also knights or mercenaries).  In addition, the necklace of fireballs was exhausted at this point so they had no wizardly assistance whatsoever and the only spells they had at their disposal were of a clerical nature.

From behind one of the tapestries came a Wraith, followed by a Mummy and then followed by a Banshee!  This was not good news for the under strength Knights of the Bitter Rose.  The four henchmen all failed their save verses fear from the mummy and fled and then several attempts to turn the undead failed as the desperate knights fought for their lives.  Jean Paul tried to cast his Silence spell on the Banshee but since it was incorporeal it ended up getting cast on the floor instead of on the creature.  The banshee's wail was delayed for but a round and the next round it moved out of the radius of the Silence spell and let out its horrible scream.  All four player character knights failed their save and were instantly killed on the spot including Harold, Jean Paul and Dirk Masters. We found out from the GM later that the head priest of Orcus was standing behind a secret door and peering through peep holes behind one of the tapestries and had summoned the undead to slay the knights.  That encounter was payback to the Knightly Order for exacting such a heavy toll on the cult in the previous battle using the necklace of fireballs.  The knights fell back to their order to lick their wounds and did not return to the Tomb after that.

In further adventures in the Tomb of Abysthor, the group kept pounding on the remaining priests and minions of the Temple of Orcus on the second level.  The first time the adventurers entered the primary Temple itself was an eerie experience.  There was a large cavernous area filled with undead of various types and a large statue of Orcus in the center of the cavern with the actual temple behind two heavy bronze doors off to one side.  The group made their way through the cavern to the Temple and entered through the doors and was immediately confronted by numerous cultists and minions including a very large demon.  A pitched battle ensued but we were forced to withdraw due to overwhelming odds.  It was a successful recon in force of the Temple though and we were better prepared the next time we entered.  On the next foray Brundel managed to send their pet demon back to its original plane of existence when he cast the cleric spell Dispel Evil on it.  Their numbers continued to dwindle and we had a feeling that we had finally tipped the balance after that encounter.

In the final battle in the Temple of Orcus the group went in with Holzabog the Wizard who cast Invisibility 10' Radius on the entire group to keep us concealed from our foes until we were ready to strike.  Once we opened the doors we had a fairly large combat where we managed to kill most of the remaining priests and minions of the cult.  Then the wizard finally slew the Head Priest of the Temple of Orcus who was still standing defiantly up on his alter with a couple of other lesser priests.  Before casting his Lightning Bolt spell to finish him off he said "this is for all the pain, suffering and hurt you have caused to the people of this world" and then the cult was finished.  Our moment of victory was finally at hand after a long and brutal war of attrition against the Cult of Orcus in the Tomb of Abysthor.

We continued exploring the complex and eventually found a passage hidden in an underground river area that led to a level we had never been to before that was crawling with giant frogs.  We found out later there was yet another cult there of frog men that were worshipers of the evil demon god Tsathoggua.  We skirted this cult for the most part not wanting to get embroiled in another war against yet another evil cult and eventually found the lower levels below.

In one of these areas we were teleported into a maze and trapped there and had to answer three riddles asked of us by the gate guardian which was a giant sphinx.  We answered the riddles successfully and it let us escape the maze through the magical portal.  On one of the deeper levels we discovered a cavern guarded by a couple of Xorn which allowed us to keep some of the gems and precious metals contained therein after we solved some riddles having to do with colors.  There was platinum and gold in abundance and a wealth of gems in the cavern.  After this we found the Earth Blood Chamber where Brundel was told by his god Kaz Grimmle, the elemental god of fire, to swim in the earth blood.  This gave him great strength for a time and he used the gift of his god later to restore the Temples of Pavaline and Oltherion on the surface above to their former glory.

Eventually, we made it to Abysthor's Tomb itself where we found the priest still alive but trapped in a giant crystal prison.  Apparently, he had sacrificed himself to stave off a great evil and keep it from entering our world but his spirit could not be freed and he was not strong enough to close the gate unless someone of his alignment was willing to sacrifice themselves by joining him in the crystal.  The only one of our group that was Lawful Good was Holzabog the Wizard and he was not willing to sacrifice himself for such a cause because he was a mighty and powerful wizard of the Order now so we left him in his tomb to guard against the evil and thus completed the adventure.

Tomb of Abysthor: The Unseely Sorceress

Recap from 10/28/05

The session began with a discussion on where we wanted to explore in the Tomb of Abysthor next.  It was a truly massive complex and there were lots of areas we had been to but not fully explored and a few areas that were as yet untouched by the group.  Holzabog once again said that he wanted to return to the Order to get more spells and would certainly not miss the tomb if we never returned. We discussed tackling the cave morays, anhkhegs and  whatever was turning people to stone in that cavernous area of the dungeon and decided that it would be better to take that on when we had more muscle available since both Korhill and Patches were currently not with us.

After some debate we decided to try to take out the evil Elven sorceress in her lair once again.  The first time we tangled with her was the session where she hit us with one of her fireballs and most of the characters lost most of their hit points after we rejected her offer of parley but fortunately none of the player characters were killed.  We were all hanging on by a thread at that point and had to fall back and heal up so we were pretty bent on getting even with her after that.  Needless to say, we probably should have left her alone after the first time and did leave her alone after this session.

Brundel would have rather gone into the lair a little better prepared spell wise but both he and Holzabog still had a fair complement of spells to choose from.  We discussed a plan and came up with this one:  Brundel and Holzabog would hang back a little from the group (just at the edge of sight) while still invisible. The rest of the group would go in with a coin with silence on it and try to draw her out while the two spell casters covered the group's back.

Unfortunately, as always seems to happen with any plan we came up with it began to unravel almost immediately. Shortly after moving through the room at the bottom of the stairs Brundel noticed another tunnel in that room which had an invisible wall concealing it. He thought that maybe she could be hiding in there and decided to wait for a minute (six rounds) in case she came out instead of following immediately behind.

Meanwhile, the group went past the room with the mist, down the hallway and through a new illusory wall that looked like stone that led into the chamber where she previously had her wine and water. Everyone in the group at that point had to save verses paralyzation from a glyph placed above the door. Miles was the only one who made the save and Cairie was not affected because of her Ring of Free Action. She decided at that point to press on with Miles to the room with the chests and leave the two paralyzed characters behind (big mistake). The two of them proceeded into the room with the chests and both failed to save verses blindness from a glyph over that door - they were in the dark and in danger of knocking over the magical components and equipment in the room while fumbling around in it.

Meanwhile, Brundel and Holzabog got past the room with the fog with Brundel leading the wizard trough the darkness. Before proceeding down the hallway beyond the first invisible wall Brundel poked his head through it to see if the witch was hiding behind it. At this point he realized that the mist didn't affect his sight - his darkvision allowed him to penetrate the mist unlike the rest of the group. It was obviously some sort of darkness spell that she was hiding in.

About fifteen feet down the hallway and clinging to the ceiling was our unseely friend. She hadn't seen Brundel at this point because he was invisible so he cast produce flame and threw the flaming missile at the witch dealing out a small amount of damage. This caught her completely off guard since she didn't know we were there. She cast silence (a cleric spell?) on the spot where we were standing. Brundel grabbed Holzabog and pulled him into the mist below and behind her to get out of the range of the silence. Since he couldn't see anything Holzabog cast a light spell.

The next round she scurried on the ceiling away down the passage to the "T" intersection. Holzabog blindly tossed a 2 die sharks tooth fireball down the hallway since he couldn't see her to target her with a more powerful fireball or lightning bolt. Brundel tried to dispel her spider climb but failed the intelligence check to do so. She turned the corner and disappeared. Brundel gave chase and saw two zombies guarding the door to another chamber where he assumed she had retreated. We fell back to find the rest of the group.

What we found in the room past the illusory stone wall were the charred corpse of Ian of Avondale and a very badly singed knight who was still barely conscious.  Brundel cast a heal spell on the knight and went back into the hallway to guard against the witch. Meanwhile, Holzabog and the knight went down to the lab room to see what happened to rest of the group.  He found the other two blindly fumbling around in the room. At that point the other knight began busting open chests and discovered a large quantity of loot consisting of five potions, bolts of expensive silk, expensive furs, a lot of coinage and some jewelry.

They proceeded to loot the room of its contents.  Meanwhile, back in the hallway Brundel saw two zombies in banded mail and curved swords approaching and heard a familiar voice. The little elf woman said "there is no doubt that your friends are stealing my belongings right now" or something to that affect. As she was attempting to parley Brundel turned her two zombie escorts. She said "that wasn't very nice" and Brundel ran back to the lab room to get Holzabog. We used the dust of disappearance to turn invisible again and scouted the hallway ahead - her two zombies were now guarding the "T" intersection down it a ways so we assumed she had retreated to her lair.

At this point, we looted the charred remains of the fallen Ian (Brundel wasn't concerned about him being reanimated because there was almost nothing left of him). We gathered up the loot and our blinded companions and once again fled the tomb and fell back to the shrines.

It is now apparent that the unseely sorceress is in fact not a witch at all but a priestess of Malabar and a sorceress. This gives her a potent combination of cleric spells and sorcerer spells including the ability to heal herself and control undead. The fireballs that she tossed at the two in the room were a pair of eight die fireballs - that means she is at least an eighth level sorcerer plus whatever her cleric level is. She is a formidable opponent and now that we have stolen her treasure Brundel thinks she is best to be avoided - she tried to parley with us twice and we rebuffed her. I don't think she will be as kind the next time. Not that toasting us with fireballs is kind or anything - she was clearly holding back and more than a little afraid of the Mage of the Order and the Scion of Kaz Grimmle despite the fact that we barely scratched her.  The fact that Brundle could see into her mist was probably a bit unsettling to her.

So ends the life of Ian of Avondale. We will miss his Bardic Knowledge rolls and the merry music that he used to entertain us with.  Despite the loss we came out of there with a considerable haul of loot and potions. Also, the quiver of Elhonna survived the fireballs along with Ian's Ring of Protection, the pattern welded broadsword and the dwarven chainmail.

Tomb of Abysthor: Assault on the Temple

Recap from 10/7/05 session

We started the session off with a direct frontal assault on the Temple of Orcus on the Second level of the Tomb of Abysthor.  The assault group consisted of the original player characters and the Knights of the Bitter Rose so it was a pretty formidable force although the wizard Holzbog was not present.  The plan was to go down through the locked door to the stairs leading to the second level and hit the cult hard with the combined force.  The plan immediately started to fall apart when the bard, Ian of Avondale, was blinded by a blindness glyph of warding placed near the door before we even descended the stairs.

We pressed on boldly and immediately ran into a group of skeletons and zombies and then the alarm was sounded and cultists and their minions started pouring out of the doors in the hallway below.  A savage melee commenced with both sides throwing spells at each other, engaging in melee combat and firing missiles as the group tried to turn some of the undead.  The cleric Harold had a necklace of fireballs and started throwing fireballs into the rear ranks of the cultists and their minions which either singed or took out some of their numbers.  We also had a coin with the spell silence cast on it and when the cultists started trying to cast spells, we threw it down the hall near where they were standing to shut them up and keep them from casting spells at us.

One of the players had to leave at this point and then we had three more cultists thrown at us which Harold toasted with one of the lesser fireballs (the six die one).  They promptly withdrew after being burned badly and then we were assailed by a large group of Ogres (six or seven) which fortunately couldn't all attack at once.  One of the four or six die fireballs cleared the hallway of all but one of them except the one wearing plate mail at the front.  Jean Paul managed to retrieve the silent coin as we advanced and he picked it up and threw it down the hallway past the ogre.

After that, the burned cultists returned along with four of the more powerful cultists in the back.  The burned guys moved into the area of the coin and couldn't cast spells for a little while because of the silence spell.  The clerics were accompanied by more undead of course including a shadow which one of the newly arrived more powerful clerics had summoned.  At one point the powerful priests cast some spells at the Paladin, Miles and Harold which effectively held them and did damage at the same time (some kind of signature spell).  John Paul managed to free Miles from the spell with a remove paralysis and Dirk went for the necklace of fireballs that was still on the held Harold.

Meanwhile the Paladin was getting pounded on by the zombies, the shadow and the ogre while he was defenseless.  Harold managed to turn the shadow and it fled.  By the time John Paul was able to get to the Paladin, he was at or below zero hits and when the cleric holding him was hit by another fireball, the spell was broken.  He was in bad shape though and John Paul started dragging him out of there so he could heal him without having him take any more damage.

Meanwhile, Dirk Masters was toasting the senior cultists in the back with the shark-tooth necklace of fireballs.  He hit them with an eight die fireball first doing 37 points of damage to those that were not fortunate enough to make a Dex save - this included two or three of their number.  The next fireball (a four or six die affair) killed a couple of them and took a few of the last ones hit points down by 45 or so (close to death – they were extra crispy).  Harold got free from the Hold spell when the evil cleric got toasted and he was back in action.  They just kept coming until we were down to the two die fireballs.  Dirk kept witling them down with the fireballs while the rest of the group held off the mob.  Harold landed his silence spell on the last senior cultist in the back who couldn't cast any more spells at that point. 

Unfortunately for the Paladin, Dirk rolled a one on the last two die fireball and dropped it right next to him.  The Paladin was killed so John Paul got his body out of there to prevent him from being reanimated later.  Meanwhile the rest of the group fought off the last of the cultists and undead (there were only three cultists left standing at this point) and defeated them in vicious hand to hand combat.  Fortunately they were out of spells at this point and fell in a savage fury of blows.  Towards the end Harold cast his prayer spell in the final melee to bolster his allies and deter our foes.

We managed to kill around twelve or so cultists total (I counted at least ten), around eight ogres and countless zombies and skeletons (around twenty to thirty).  If you add these cultists to the ones killed in the previous foray we are up to eighteen total killed while only losing one of our number (the Paladin).  I guess technically the score is eighteen to three if you count the loss of Syng'l, Hammersmith and the Paladin.  At this point the group is falling back to the shrines to get reinforcements and will be promptly returning to the tomb to finish the job and destroy the altars of the Temple of Orcus.

It was a hell of a fight - non-stop melee for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.  So much for the plan, it fell apart pretty quickly when Ian was taken out of the combat by the blindness glyph.  The silence coin did come in handy though at a key moment and the other silence spell effectively took the last powerful cleric's spell casting ability off of the table.

Tomb of Abysthor: To Flee From Shadows

Recap from 10-2-05

Cairi started out exploring the tunnel beyond the wall beyond the Ankheg pit and single handedly took on four skeletons quickly dispatching them with Ian backing her up. The rest of the group remained in the cavern where the ankheg pit was and kept an eye out down the hallway for the cultists in case they should decide to pursue and on the ankheg pit lest the sorceress or something else should crawl out of it.

It appeared as though Cairi was bent on suicide. When she was searching the rat tunnels she continued fighting the rats and wanted to explore further but all she found was more rats to chew on her. Coupled with having contracted the bubonic plague or something the cleric was sure she would have found more of the same and convinced the over inquisitive little girl that perhaps there was more treasure down the main hallway than there was in the rat warren. She eventually agreed and went forward into the next room where she ran into a large group of shadows. Since she was first into the room they all pounced on her and almost succeeded in turning her into one of them draining her strength tremendously. She promptly disengaged from combat and withdrew as far as she could running for her life. The group tried to take them out as they passed and managed to kill a couple of them as they attempted to finish off their victim and add to their number. Fortunately, Holzabog hadn't used his last lightning bolt and dispatched them before they could finish their work while Cairi managed to dodge out of the way of the bolt for half damage. Had she failed that roll she would have been one with the dark side.

Even after nearly dying and contracting the rat plague, she insisted on trying to open the door beyond the shadow lair. The group literally had to drag her out of the room to keep her from trying to go beyond the door because most of our spells were exhausted and we still had the body of the witch protector to return to Maeve.  The cleric thought that maybe she felt guilty about leaving her family the way she did and was bent on suicide by the way she was acting.

Back in Rahanna Brundel gave the gift of the dwarvish axe to the Duke to attempt to win his favor and be allowed to have access to their forge. Unfortunately, Niles Digby was there whispering into the Duke's ear obvious falsehoods about Brundel's motives as to his presence in the fortress. Ian the Bard helped out with most of the audience in explaining that we merely wanted to be able to visit the dwarves, help them tend their fire for the Duke and gain there services from time to time. Brundel eventually spoke and told them that the boon he asked for the gift was that he be allowed to serve the Duke by helping the dwarf craftsman out when possible (being a metallurgist) and to have access to their services when necessary. He also stated that he had no interests in the affairs of men and that he was not a spy for the king as he heard had been alleged.

Unfortunately, Niles Digby thought otherwise or somehow felt threatened by Brundel as a rival and continued to ply the Duke with scurrilous lies. The dwarf thinks that this Digby character is up to no good and possibly has evil motives. Ian found out from the bard at the Bag of Nails Inn (the high class courtesan establishment) that Digby was suspected of practicing sorcery and that when he goes out on the town he has unseen protectors watching over him sent by the Duke. Brundel thinks the Knights of the Bitter Rose may be interested in what he is up to - it may be worth it to have their Paladin see if he is in fact evil. He obviously has undue influence with the Duke possibly gained from his sorceress powers of persuasion. For all we know he could be allied with the cultists which would make him our mortal enemy...

Part 2 of 2 (written from the perspective of the Dwarven Cleric and Elementalist Brundel Kragenash)

Tomb of Abysthor: The Burial Crypts

Recap from 10-2-05 (written by Curtis)

We played team A (Brundle, Ian, etc), since we were still in the dungeon having fled from the cultist's hideout behind the big bronze door. The plan was to just play it by ear and see where things went. Our intent was to explore other parts of the dungeon that "didn't move the plot forward" so to speak.  We also decided that we would end up going back to Rahanna for rest and resupply afterward.

We went back to the Ogre's lair to retrieve some of the items in its cave that were left from our last visit. We took some mundane stuff and gave a two-handed sword to one of Maeve's fighters who lost his axe in the battle with the cultists. We found some dwarven chainmail that needed repair but otherwise was in good shape. We greyhawk'd the room and went back to the area of the ankheg pit to explore the cliff face that went up.

Cairi hopped up the ledge using her ring of jumping and tossed it down to Ian who followed behind. The cavern split into two and to the right the room ended in a small tomb with four wooden sarcophagi. When she entered the room four skeletons emerged and attacked. Ian joined her soon enough after he heard her engage in combat and together they dispatched them. She noticed some strange stone amulets with the symbol of Baazul on them around their necks. She couldn't break them with her hammer, and all four skeletons wore one so she took them all. There was nothing else in that room so the party proceeded up the left hand tunnel which catacombed a little bit and opened up into an area with narrow rat tunnels. Cairi searched the rat tunnels convinced the rats would have precious little baubles hidden away in them.  She crawled into the closest tunnel and found no rats in it but did find a swarm of rats in the one on the other side.  She fought and killed twelve rats but got chewed up pretty good in the face fighting in the narrow corridor. She wanted to clear the rats out to see what they might have in their nest, but the party grew bored with her shenanigans and made her come out of the hole. Brundle was certain that she'd probably contracted some kind of disease to boot.

The hallway ended with another cliff going down about 10 feet into a fairly large room with six sarcophagi like we found in the first room.  We were pretty certain that these would have skeletons in them and Cairie pulled out her weapons and hopped down into the room where she was promptly attacked by two shadows! She hopped back up and then seven shadows emerged - two man-sized shadows and five shaped like rats. Brundle attempted to turn them to no avail and they all attacked Cairi who was by this point becoming greatly concerned for her life. Holzbog, to his credit, kept throwing fireballs from his necklace but a couple of them were real duds. Cairi fled for her life with three strength and twelve hit points back down the hallway with all seven of the shadows in tow.

The shadows pursued through the rest of the party who took ample attacks against them as they fled past and managed to dispatch three of them.  Holzbog, quickly tried to assess her physical state by questioning Brundle to see how well she fared. Holzbog decided that Carrie would rather die than be a shadow and launched a lightning bolt down the hallway for twenty four points of damage. She made her save and ducked out of the way of most of the electricity and only took half damage from the magical bolt.  He managed to kill all the shadows with the bolt of electricity.

The party explored that room after the cleric managed to bring Cairi back to consciousness. They noticed a door on the far side which Cairi foolishly tried to open but it was locked. There was nothing else in the room. After this we left for Rahanna.

Part 1 of 2 (from the eyes of a little girl...)

Tomb of Abysthor: The Cult of Orcus

Recap from 9/23/05

We started off by talking to Maeve to do a little trading. We asked her if her sell sword friends could help us out with some muscle against the cultists.  Two fighters ended up joining the group. At one point Kerry asked if we should maybe go after the witch on the lower levels. They told us that they would not help us if we were to do so. We then explained that we thought she was an unseely sorcerer rather than a witch but they said that it could have been a witch's charm to make her look like an unseely sorcerer. We  also told them that she was trying to turn herself into a hag but they were vehemently opposed to going after her in her place of repose.

The newly formed group re-entered the tomb of Abysthor with the intention of assailing the cultists beyond the locked door. The Knights of the Bitter Rose had given us the key they took off of the cultist that they killed which worked to unlock the door. Brundel cast an augury spell off of a scroll before entering and asked the question "will it be good or bad for the group if we open the door". The answer from Kaz Grimmle was "both weal and woe". Upon receiving this answer we opened the door and pushed forward.

We were immediately confronted by a group of undead upon entering. Brundel managed to turn the skeletons but we had to fight the zombies which the fighters quickly dispatched. Ian began his bardic "exalt" ability by singing us on to greater deeds and Brundel cast a prayer spell off of a scroll. While the melee was going on two doors opened further down the hallway and a pair of cultists ran out and away sounding the  alarm. Holzabog thought about toasting them with a fireball but they were out of range.

At this point the fighters asked us what they should do and Ian said "after them" which turned out to be huge mistake. The fighters ran down the hallway and entered the room at the end only to come fact to face with a group of cultists. They were out of range of  Ian's exalt and quickly fell prey to the cultists hold person spells. The cultists sent more undead into the room to attack the helpless fighters while the rest of the group headed in that direction to try to rescue them. Kerry quaffed a potion of heroism and entered  the fray of the room to take on the undead.

We quickly found ourselves in a desperate situation. The room they were in filled up with four cultists and a number of undead which all but cut off our beleaguered fighter friends. The other room contained the leader and three sub commanders along with a few more undead who were holding back. Holzabog managed to cast a sleep spell and put two of the regular cultists to sleep which allowed us to pull the two held fighters out of there. As they were being retrieved they got hit a number of times by the undead facing them and the one that Brundel grabbed went unconscious.

At this point the three other cultists and the rest of the undead entered the first room and it was looking pretty grim for the group. Despite the fact that we knew we would be hit by it we called out "broken arrow" to Holzabog who toasted the room with his best fireball from his necklace of fireballs. This quickly cleared the room of undead and the lower level cultists but it also singed the group still in the hallway closest to the room and killed the unconscious fighter.

Soon after that Brundel cast a silence spell on the three remaining higher level cultists to cover our exit and Holzabog threw in a smaller fireball which hurt them but didn't kill them. Brundel retrieved the body of our fallen friend to keep it from being turned into an undead creature and we beat a hasty withdrawal. Before leaving, we glimpsed three ogres (one in plate mail), around twelve more cultists and a number of undead coming back into the second room to pursue us.

On the stairs on the way out Brundel and Kerry were caught by the undead since we were slowed down from carrying the body. While Kerry engaged them Brundel managed to turn the ghouls and then the skeletons and we exited through the door and locked it behind us.

That was a brutal encounter but we did manage to kill four cultists while losing one of the sell swords. In hindsight the order to have them pursue the cultists was a mistake as it took them out of range of the bard's exalt ability which would have given them a better chance at saving against the cultist's spells. The fight was more of a rescue mission from that point on with Holzabog saving the day with the fireballs. We also prevented them from turning the sell sword into an undead creature by retrieving his body which Brundel thought was important given our recent experiences with Syng'l and Hammersmith.

Enter the Knights of the Bitter Rose...

Tomb of Abysthor: The Shrine of Orcus

Recap from 9/10/05

We returned to the Tomb of Abysthor after a few forays into the place and run ins with more of the cultists and the dreaded red skeleton font.  While exploring the tomb we were ambushed by a rather large ogre in a hallway littered with fallen rocks. We eventually killed him and found some loot in his lair including a few magic items.

After that we followed the remaining passages and came to a room that had six sarcophagi in it. When we entered six armored skeletons came out of them wearing some kind of amulets. We started fighting them after two failed attempts at turning them.  While we were fighting them another creature came out of a doorway in the back of the room and cast a fear spell. Both Holzabog and Korhill fled the combat.  Lord Hammersmith rolled really well and managed to turn the wight which fled the room. We eventually managed to destroy the skeletons and Ian went back to retrieve the two characters that fled while Hammersmith and Brundel went after the wight while it was still turned.

When we entered the next room we noticed a statue and altar to Orcus along the rear wall and the wight was on the right side of the room having just recovered from being turned after ten rounds. Brundel cast produce flame and threw it at him but missed. He then tried to turn it but failed, no doubt because we were in a shrine of Orcus giving it a boost against turning.  We were engaged in melee shortly afterward and we found it was almost impossible to hit it due to its magical armor, which we later found out gave it the ability to cast the fear spell as a free action plus a high AC.

Brundel got hit and lost a level and withdrew to heal himself since he got hit pretty badly by the skeletons as well. He then cast a chant spell off of a scroll, quaffed a potion of Cat's Grace and re-entered the fray. By this time Hammersmith had done minimal damage to it and had lost a level. After both characters missed the wight several times it was apparent that we needed some help in getting past the armor. Brundel attempted to hit it with a cure serious wounds spell (positive energy) but rolled poorly on the touch attack and missed. It sucked another level off of Hammersmith. The next round Brundel cast his last cure serious and also missed (all I needed was a six and I rolled a four and a five on both spells) and I knew we were in trouble as it drained another level from Hammersmith.

Ian re-entered the fray with our two frightened companions in tow and moved up to fire at it with his bow. At this point the wight cast fear again and both Brundel and Hammersmith failed this time. By now Hammersmith was down to first level and as he fled he got hit again and fell. Brundel also got hit on the way out and lost another level bringing him down to third. Ian hit it once or twice with his bow and the last thing he saw before leaving the room was the body of Hammersmith rising to haunt the tomb as a wight!

There is no doubt that without that armor and the alter we could have defeated the wight.  Once again we fled for our lives from the tomb of Absythor!  Now we have two fallen comrades in that accursed tomb that have come back to haunt us.

Tomb of Abysthor: The Temple of Pavaline

Recap from 7-9-05

We started off by trying to get some info on the Tomb of Abysthor from Maeve and Hennesee the scribe.  We found out that Abysthor was the last priest of either Pavaline or Oltherion (or both?) and that there were no longer any active worshipers or priests of the religions even though some still revere the old faiths (like the witches).  We also learned that the rest of the priests were buried there as well.  Also, Thomas got some info on the inscriptions in the temple of Pavaline from a Monk so we went back there to try to get in.

Before we got to the temples we found the bodies of four adventurers, some gold and their weapons which we later sold after discovering that they had fought a manticore and were then killed by a young green dragon.  Brundel cast a couple of consecrate spells on the alter and the statue to clean up the desecration and then we tried to get in.  First we said the words and nothing happened.  However, when Holzboch said the same words it opened up so we figured it was keyed to alignment (he is lawful good).  We went down into a large room with tapestries depicting Pavaline's many great deeds on them.  Behind the tapestries were three secret doors which appeared to be keyed to glyphs that were shown on Pavaline's sword, shield and armor on the tapestries.  Since we couldn't decipher the glyphs we decided to collect our loot and head back to town after spending the night inside the shrine to stay safe.  In the morning, Brundel cast four consecrate spells on the temple managing to cleanse about half of the structure from the vile desecration. On the way back we ran into some Troll whelps and Brundel toasted them with fire spells and then the others finished them off.

When we went to see our friend Cooley in the market to sell the weapons, we noticed he seemed to be under a spell.  Then Brundel was hit with the same spell (some kind of powerful charm spell) from a group of nobles with elvish daggers who apparently robbed Cooley of some of his maps including the map to the white tower.  This of course meant that they copied the map as well.  We sold our loot and went back to the temple to try again after getting a translation of the glyphs in the Temple of Pavaline.

We went to the temple of Oltherion first where Brundel cast a couple of more consecrate spells to clean it up but we didn't know how to say the words on the statue correctly so we went back to the temple of Pavaline.  There we were greeted by seven worshipers of Orcus and eleven red skeletons.  Apparently, Brundel's attempt to clean up their mess upset them and they decided to greet us on our next visit.  That's where we left it - a true cliffhanger.  If we stick around and fight it should be a tough battle but we may be able to defeat them if all goes well.  If not, it may not turn out too well for the group of adventurers.

Tales of Braxus: The Tomb of Abysthor

The next series of recaps are retroactive from our older C&C campaign set in Scadgrad's World of Braxus back in 2005.  There are gaps in the story because some of the missing sessions were either never written up or I was unable to save copies of them.  I did at least manage to save copies of the ones posted here though.

A little bit of background first.  After the demise of Hraal the Reaver in our previous campaign set in Necrovidia, the group eventually completed the quest to find the sword of Kel in the Lost City of Barakus so we decided to start fresh with a new campaign and group of characters.  The new campaign was set in the kingdom of Abingdon in Southern Brinnismore in the western isles.  There we explored the infamous Tomb of Abysthor written by Necromancer Games where the group found much fame and fortune but were up against the dreaded priests of the cult of Orcus.  The group eventually managed to persevere through many trials and travails to complete the module.  This was also the campaign where we commenced with the transition from 3.5 D&D to Castles and Crusades by Troll Lord Games but still retained some elements of 3.5 D&D like like signature spells and a few other things which were included in the house rules.

Tales of Braxus: The Deep Places of the Earth

Recap from 1/15/2005

While adventuring deep in the bowels of the Lost City of Barakus, the group made its way into a very large and sprawling cavern.  Here, they encountered a massive multi headed Hydra and fierce combat ensued.  Hraal managed to sneak around its flank while the rest of the group engaged it and its many heads from the front.  After the rest of the group managed to cut off several of the heads, Hraal managed to backstab the creature doing double damage and finally killing the massive beast.  After the combat, the group split up to look for loot.  The wizard found a magical sword in one corner on a long dead adventurer and the rest of the group found various other items of treasure as well.

This is when the hidden Duergar chose to attack, however, catching the group totally by surprise.  We were still wounded from the encounter with the Hydra and had no idea the cruel and evil dwarves were hiding nearby, using their ability to blend into the dark and shadowy stone cavern walls so efficiently.  We found out later that they had been trapped in the Lost City, unable to return to their subterranean kingdom.  The presence of the Hydra prevented their exit to their dark underground realm through the passage on the other side of the large cavern which was its lair.  Since we hadn’t had time to heal our wounds after the encounter with the Hydra, more than one character was knocked unconscious in the initial surprise attack.  Eventually, Master Ho, Quan and Eltherian were all down while the wizard picked up the sword and tried to defend himself as best he could.  He too eventually fell to their blows and soon enough it was only Hraal the Reaver that stood against a rather large group of evil dwarves.

The dwarves began looting the fallen adventurers and made off with some of their gold and magic items while their leader, a warrior priest, pointed at Hraal and said with an evil grin “I will take care of this one”.  A fierce one on one combat ensued with the well armored priest pounding on the Hudan barbarian and the barbarian returning his blows with both broadsword and hand axe.  The blood rage of the berserker was upon him and after both opponents took blow after blow from each other, the full fury of the barbarian eventually brought the cleric down with a savage blow that crushed the priest’s skull into a bloody pulp.  Covered with blood and gore, Hraal held both sword and axe high and screamed triumphantly at the remaining dwarves with all of his primal fury.  The dwarves, seeing their leader fallen and a blood stained and blood mad berserker challenging them to fight on, decided that discretion was the better part of valor and beat a hasty retreat out of the tunnel on the opposite side of the cavern that we had yet to explore.

Hraal took stock of the situation and used a healing potion to heal Master Ho, our Spirit Shaman healer first so he could then heal up the rest of the group as necessary. Amazingly, none of the others were dead but merely unconscious and were soon brought back to life by the Balduin healer.  We cursed our carelessness at having been caught off guard by the dwarves and decided that we should pursue them to try and regain our lost magic items.  The group followed the winding cavernous hallway that they had retreated through for a long time.  The tunnel just kept on going until we thought that perhaps we had left the lost city altogether.  Since we didn’t have a dwarf with us we couldn’t tell how far we had gone or if the passage was sloping down.

Eventually, we came to a large natural stone cavern that dwarfed the previous one in comparison.  At the other end of the cavern was an old woman that begged us for aid.  As we approached, the old hag attacked us and combat once again ensued.   We eventually overcame the evil hag but a few more of us were wounded in the encounter.  We decided to push on into the next passage convinced that the evil dwarves and our lost magic items couldn’t be that far away.  It was a fatal decision that those who survived would later regret.

We entered the next subterranean cavern and were surprised by a group of four hungry trolls.  Three of the four trolls attacked the barbarian in front with three attacks each and the other one pounced on the surprised Master Ho with its claws and fangs.  To make matters worse, the trolls then won the initiative the next round and after another four claw, claw, bite attacks they were busy devouring the remains of the unfortunate barbarian and spirit shaman.  Seeing their front line go down so quickly, the rest of the group did what they had to in order to escape the hungry beasts.  Three of the trolls were busy devouring the legs and arms of the fallen adventurers but one gave chase eager for another kill to add to their grisly feast.

Quan polymorphed himself into a unicorn and distracted the troll long enough for Elthyrian to beat a hasty retreat and then followed suit while the wizard cast invisibility on himself and also retreated down the hallway from whence they had come.  They eventually made it back to the surface above the lost city and back to civilization.  And so passes Hraal the Reaver and his faithful companion Master Ho from the world of Braxus into the halls of Valhalla.  Many a tale of the brave Hudan warrior and his stalwart Balduin companion is sung to this day in smoky taverns by the bards of Braxus praising their adventurous exploits in Hammerstad and the fabled Lost City of Barakus.

Eventually, the remaining members of the group recruited a new fighter to lead them in their quest for the sword of Kel in the lost city.  His name was Wolfric the Wild, a stout human fighter from Dortland decked out in wolf skins who fought fiercely with his great axe against the denizens of the Lost City.  And thus the mighty adventurers concluded their exploration of Barakus when they finally retrieved the sword of Kel from its subterranean resting place. The fate of the sword and its finders is the subject of a future tale that is, as yet unwritten...

Tales of Braxus: The Lost City of Barakus

Recap from 10/8/04

The game started off with final conversions from 3.5 to C&C.  That didn't take too long and we started the session with only two players but four total functional characters in the group.  Since Eltherion was poisoned in the last session we decided to head back to the hamlet to rest up before returning to Barakus.  While there we found out that there was a Dortish Duke marching on Hammerstad with an army and most of the Hudan were answering the call to muster to face the invasion.  The Hyalmar were not nearly as enthusiastic being of primarily Hannite origin.  I think we know whose side they will be on.  Also, we found out that the motivation for the invasion had something to do with the Hudan desecration of their sacred Hannite temple.  Of course the Hudan priests actually blessed it with their presence!

While en route to Barakus the group was attacked by six Fomorri warriors on a side path adjacent to the road.  We made quick work of them and headed towards the ancient city.  Once inside we decided to explore the tunnels near the goblin lair which we had taken out in the previous expedition.  We entered a low ceilinged crypt room which had been looted of all valuables including the bodies.  In a false bottom in one of the sarcophagi Hraal found a recently made secret door that led down a tunnel via a ladder.  We closed it up for future inspection and kept exploring.

We followed the tunnel to the right until we heard some monstrous noises including the scraping of talons on stone.  We decided to investigate the noises and proceeded down the corridor.  Much to our chagrin we were surprised by a young black dragon!  It got the drop on us and sprayed us all with acid.  Immediately Nevyruhl collapsed into a heap on the ground.  With everyone still smoking from the acid and obviously hurt Hraal picked up the elf and withdrew from combat.  Eltherion and Master Ho promptly did the same.  We know where it lives and can come back and take it on our terms when we are ready.

After Master Ho healed the injured, we returned back to the main chamber and turned into the hallway opposite the entrance hall.  We could hear noises ahead from some inhabitant in the room.  Hraal dropped his torch and attempted to move silently down the corridor and hide in the shadows to set up an ambush.  Unfortunately he has not learned how to use his ability to hide effectively yet and he was spotted by a Fomorri barbarian residing in the room with two huge mastiff guard dogs.  He began speaking to Hraal and told him that he was an outcast from his people and came here to find some magical axe.  He also said we couldn't enter his chamber and especially didn't like our elven companions.  Hraal left his company and we resumed our exploration.

We went back through the crypt room and started exploring the tunnels to the left of where we encountered the dragon.  We explored a cave around a subterranean lake and encountered a group of giant beetles which we quickly dispatched.  After that we entered a series of tunnels off of the lake cavern.

We eventually came across a den of kobolds who tried to trap us in a net trap as we entered their lair.  Both Hraal and Eltherion deftly stepped away as the net went up.  Hraal got pelted with a half dozen missile weapons and then we closed in melee.  While we were fighting them Master Ho cast a spell in the background.  Out of the ground came a swarm of spiders that started devouring the hapless kobolds where they stood.  We finished off the remaining ones and stepped away lest we be devoured by the swarm of insects as well.  After healing our wounds from combat we ended the session - we didn't even search the room for treasure (it was getting late).

Overall C&C made the game run very smoothly - the combats took half the time they would normally take and there were very few pauses to look in the rulebook for anything.  I would have to say it was a smooth transition with very few bumps in the road along the way.

Tales of Braxus: The Queen with Burning Eyes

Recap from 10/15/04

The group went back into the dungeon located in the ruins near Old Town in the rough part of town across the river.  We moved the now familiar rock and went down through the hole in the floor of the room there to continue our exploration.  We went down some passages to an area we hadn’t explored yet and heard voices up ahead.  Our sorcerer cast ghost sound to create the sound of a large group of soldiers marching up the hall towards the room but the men in the room paid it no mind and said something to the effect of “its about time you guys showed up” meaning they were expecting others.

We sent Malik to investigate and report back with what he saw.  He quietly snuck up to the entrance to the room ahead and as he looked in, an unusual spectacle was there before him.  It was Vestan Irsimul in a large and ornate chamber chanting some unknown ritual in an obscure language in front of a hole in the floor.  It looked like he was trying to summon something.  Seeing his chance, he loosed an arrow at our former employer since it was now obvious that he was some sort of evil necromancer and clearly up to no good.  To his surprise, the arrow bounced harmlessly off of his armor worn below his robes (we found out later he was wearing plate mail).  At this point, the screams of pending combat reached the group and we charged into the room to engage the enemy.  We fought with Vestan’s cronies while he kept chanting.

Eventually, we overcame his men but at about the time the last one was killed, something started slithering out of the hole in the floor.  It was some kind of large snake with the head of a woman – he had summoned a Naga from the realm of shadow!  So the group shifted its focus to fighting the Naga and Vestan.  We fought the hideous creature taking many grievous wounds while wounding it in turn and did our best to avoid its terrible gaze.  The battle with Vestan wasn’t going as well since, as we found out, he was wearing plate mail and was very hard to hit.  That’s when our sorcerer cast his Grease spell below Vestan’s feet and he slipped and fell into the pit screaming in terror “AAAIIIYYYEEEE!”.  We turned our full attention to the Naga and Hraal finally killed it with a savage flurry of blows.

After the combat, we took stock of our surroundings.  The room appeared to be some sort of throne room but the hole in the floor disappeared into a swirling dark and shadowy mist below.  Our sorcerer pointed out that this was no doubt a portal to the plane of shadow and that Vestan was summoning the Spirit Naga from the other side.  We were just glad that he was now residing in the plane of shadow with the rest of the shadow creatures if he yet lived…

Tales of Braxus: Into the Hole Again

Recap from August 6, 2004

We met back up with Malik and decided that it was time we continue with our quest to find the body of Vestan Irsimul’s friend since he had, after all, paid us to complete that task.  We also decided that going after the green tree bandits for the reward could wait until we finished the work of our first employer.  So we geared up and headed across the bridge to Old Town with the Hudan mercenaries in a torrential downpour.  After we crossed the bridge we were approached by a familiar figure dressed in skins to protect him from the rainy weather.  It was Yorgi the Hyaalmar bard who led us to the Hovel before we went down the hole the first time.  He told us that Vestan Irsimul wanted to speak to us before we went back underground because of “recent developments”.  We had been gone for two days after all – a lot could have happened in that time especially because of all the loot we had been selling recently after returning from Old Town.  These “recent developments” could involve some form of competition.  Malik made the comment that some other group or groups could be trying to “muscle in on our action”.  He also told us that the tunnels were flooded from the recent rains and said that Master Irsimul “forbade us” from entering the ruins.

We also noticed that the whole time he was talking to us that he kept looking over his shoulder as if he suspected someone was watching him and us – this struck us as odd.  We also asked him why the lock on the hovel, which he gave us the key to, didn’t work and told him of being attacked by brigands who crashed through the bogus lock with ease.  His only reply to this implied accusation of complicity in the attack was “it’s a rough neighborhood”.  We told him we would meet Vestan at the usual Inn at the time of the evening meal and that we had to go to the hovel to “check on something”.  With our suspicions aroused about these unusual developments we decided we were going to go to the tunnel entrance and check it out to see if we could discover anything unusual.  Of course since Vestan forbid it only made us want to go even more.  We found that the rock covering the entrance had been closed and opened several times and that many people had passed through it in the last few days.  We went further in to discover that the tunnels were in fact not flooded and that whoever had engineered the complex in the past had designed it so that the water could drain out without flooding the upper room at least.

Malik dropped into the hole in the floor in the first room with the lantern.  When he hit the floor he noticed some kind of undead creature nearby so he put down the lantern, turned invisible and withdrew to the corner.  The creature smashed the lantern and started looking for him.  Meanwhile, above the hole, Hraal managed to get a torch lit and climbed into the hole followed by Master Ho and the Hudan warriors.  We quickly dispatched the ghoul or whatever it was and decided to explore a few of the other passages.

The first one led to a rubble-strewn room.  As Malik, Carl and Snurri entered they quickly became entangled in spider webs.  That’s when Malik noticed the giant spider in the corner of the ceiling.  The Hudan warriors that could see it threw their spears and Carl shot his bow at it peppering it with missile fire.  It attacked and managed to bite Carl and Snurri before we finally finished it off.  Fortunately, the stout Hudan warriors were aided by their great stamina and were not affected by the poison.  We gave Carl the antidote to help him because he was starting to look a little green.  In the webs of the room we found a bunch of copper coins, a gold plated hourglass and a finely crafted dwarven greataxe encrusted with runes.

We picked up the loot and moved on.  In the next passageway, several missiles struck Malik after he rounded a corner.  He came back to tell us that he was under attack from something that sounded like small dogs yipping.  Carl entered the hallway and was showered with missiles, a few of which struck him.  The rest of the group entered the hallway with a few of them entering an alcove with a door in it for cover.  After several exchanges of missile fire, Hraal and the Hudan warriors entered the room and slew the small dog like creatures.  While this was going on, the door in the alcove opened and poor Carl was hit with some kind of a magical projectile spell from the doorway – he staggered back into the hallway for cover barely managing to stay on his feet and the door closed back up.  Malik reached around the doorway in the alcove and kicked the door back open.  Right after he did this he narrowly avoided being chopped in half by a swinging axe trap, which came out of the walls at both sides of the alcove.

They called for reinforcements and the warriors, master Ho and Hraal entered the room to deal with the last of the small dog like creatures, one of which was obviously a spellcaster.  Hraal threw an axe at the spellcaster and missed.  The spellcaster cast his magical missile at Hraal and singed his eyebrows a little bit.  Hraal dropped his other axe and rearmed with the newly acquired greataxe.  He swung the mighty weapon and splattered the remains of the spellcasting creature all over the walls behind it – there was barely anything left.  The one remaining creature curled into a ball on the floor and began whimpering and salivating, obviously petrified.  Malik knocked it unconscious with his sap.

Master Ho cast detect magic on the remains of the spellcaster and noticed that a ring on one of the fingers of the badly mangled body was in fact magical.  He also noticed that the great axe, which Hraal carried, was magical as well.  Also in the room we found a finely ornamented chest, which alone would fetch a handsome price at the markets.  Inside the chest we found a couple of hundred gold pieces.  Since it was mid afternoon at this point we decided to return to the city with the loot and clean ourselves up before we were to meet with Vestan Irsimul to see what he had to say.  Rather than taking the bridge and attracting attention carrying all of this stuff back we decided to hire a boat to take us across the river back to the other side.

It could very well be that the “recent developments” were caused by the group returning from the underground with loot that was openly sold in the city.  This has probably aroused the interest of other “treasure hunters” who have entered the ruins in recent days.  The group decided that we would have to be more discreet both in returning to the city with treasure and with how it was sold off afterwards.  Hraal thought that we should attempt to disguise the loot and/or take a boat across the river to return to the city.  He also thought that Malik should attempt to dispose of any loot we acquired at a local fence since they are naturally more discreet about that sort of thing.  We might not get as much money for the treasure but we also wouldn’t fan the rumor mill of the city of vast riches to be had in the underground ruins in Old Town.  We also thought it was a good idea to attempt to gather information at the local taverns to try and discover what sort of rumors about the ruins, other treasure hunters and our group may be circulating in the city.  We thought that we could discover who some of our rivals were in this way.

At this point, Hraal was very suspicious of Vestan and Yorgi.  Yorgi led us to the hovel with the bogus lock and gave us the key and we were accosted that very night by thieves who could very well have been his accomplices.  Vestan on the other hand, was obviously covering something up from the beginning.  Now he is telling us that he “forbids us” from entering the ruins without his permission.  In addition, Yorgi’s or Vestan’s tale of the ruins being flooded was an obvious lie to keep us from going down there – there was no flood.  We will listen to what Vestan has to say but at this point Hraal has had about enough of his lies and deception and is tempted to give him his hundred gold pieces back and tell him that if we do find his friends body, not only will we loot it but we will let it rot in the dungeon where it lay.  So we prepared ourselves to meet our current and possibly former employer.

Tales of Braxus: The Fool’s Path

Recap from July 31, 2004

Our heroes started play by divvying up shares from the group purse (75 g.p. each including Malik)  and spending some time at the markets to sell old stuff and buy new equipment.  Tyco went to see the witch Mya in order to have the potions we found at the hovel identified.  One was a potion of invisibility, one was a potion of Owl’s Wisdom (which was given to Hraal in case we come up against a spell caster) and the last vial was an antitoxin against poison.

After the bartering and purchasing was completed the group decided to go to the Green Griffon Inn off of the trader’s road to see if we could find out some information about the reward for the bandit’s that have been plaguing the area around the fool’s path.  Hraal suggested to Tyco that he recite some of the Hudan sagas in order to gain some friends among the many Hudan warriors that frequented the tavern.  Tyco told the saga of how Cullincar slew the great bear to the delight and amusement of the crowd.

Meanwhile, Hraal struck up a conversation with a Hudan warrior named Fafnir.  An attractive young woman named Penelope eventually approached us.  At this point Fafnir told me he would have nothing to do with her and suggested the same to me and walked away.  Hraal decided to see what she wanted since she was a comely woman and he was handsome in a way that only a Hudan woman could see.  She first said that she had some skills in telling the future, giving a few examples of things she had predicted that came true.  She also said that she was soon to be accepted into the local coven of witches in the city.

Then she proceeded to tell a story of how her husband had gone missing and implored Hraal to help her find him.  She apparently had a dream that he was still alive and in distress.  Later she had another dream that he was alive but with a dark companion at the bottom of a great cavern.  She gave Hraal a description of him – 6’ tall with thinning blond hair and told him that he was very skilled in the arcane arts and taken to wandering ruins and such in search of lost treasures and artifacts.  She then offered us 50 gold crowns if we could find him.  Hraal asked her to give him some more information like where she last saw him or where he might have been exploring but all she could tell him was she last saw him at home.  He explained to her that that wasn’t much to go by and tried to assure her that the group would look for him during our adventures.  She got upset because she thought he wasn’t going to help her and ran off crying.

Meanwhile, Raghnaal was talking to the bartender Barnkey.  The bartender told him under hushed whispers that the man buying provisions at the bar was in fact the notorious leader of the Green Tree Bandits in disguise.  This was the same man that Strom Ironhand, the local Hudan Warlord who rules the Trade Road area, had posted a reward for dead or alive (500 gold crowns).  The man finished up his business and left the tavern quietly.

Meanwhile, Tyco was telling another Saga, this time about how Cullincar, the greatest warrior of the Hudan people, slew some giants in one of his adventures.  The Hudan warriors greeted this with great applause upon its completion.

The group of warriors that seemed the most interested in the sagas were friends of Fafnir’s who Hraal was talking to earlier.  The others in the band were Carl, Snurry, and Ivar.  After Raghnaal told Hraal of the recent visit by the leader of the green tree bandits we decided to try to go after him and collect the reward.  Hraal and Master Ho stepped outside to try to find his trail.  Meanwhile, Tyco and Raghnaal negotiated terms of employment for hiring the mercenaries to assist us in the chase.  After some haggling they agreed to come along after being paid some money up front for their services and a share of the reward.

The group left the inn hastily with their newfound band of Hudan warriors.  Master Ho had picked up the trail and the chase was on.  Shortly before nightfall we spotted some smoke ahead and went to investigate.  We found a burned out hovel, obviously recent victims of the bandits.  We followed the trail as far as we could until nightfall and then made a cold camp.  At first light we tried to pick up the trail but had difficulty because of the recent rain.  We made it to the Merchant’s Arms Inn in the next Hamlet up the road at around mid morning only to find that our quarry had probably left there earlier in the morning.

To avoid attracting too much attention the warriors decided to enter after the sorcerer and the bard.  Hraal offered to buy them a hot meal if they would wait a little while before entering.  When they entered, they decided that it was time to live it up since someone else was paying the tab.  Two of the men were fighting over which one would get the tavern wench, which they had forcibly detained.  As they began sparring, she ran screaming from the tavern along with the rest of the hired help.  After much raucous behavior, including the breaking of tables and chairs, we then asked the bartender if he could help us with some provisions.  He agreed to give us some bread and sausages if we would leave his establishment immediately.  We heartily accepted his offer to the dissatisfaction of our two young bear cubs who wanted to continue with their wrestling match.  Hraal had to remind them that they were under our employment and should act with a little more restraint in similar circumstances in the future.

We set off in pursuit of the bandits with little luck trying to pick up their trail.  We decided to continue until we found the fool’s path and then we would be able to try to find their trail again which we did.  We went a ways up the rough path, which was little more than a badly rutted dirt road.  We passed a group of traveling fishermen who quickly skirted our heavily armed group fearing for their lives.  After searching for the tracks with limited success we finally had to stop for the night.  We made a camp off the path and set up our watches and proceeded to go to sleep.

Tyco and one of the young warriors were on the first watch.  As Tyco was telling the warrior some of his stories they were greeted with a hail of javelins and both went down.  The disturbance alerted most of the rest of us who got up only to find the camp under attack by six Fomorri warriors.  It was looking grim – two of our number were down and we had no light to fight by.  From the ground Raghnall illuminated the camp with a Fairy Fire spell and then the Hudan warriors sprang into action.  Despite being grievously wounded, our Hudan friends fought with great courage and bravery.  One of them continued fighting even though he obviously should have been felled from his wounds.  Another of their number single handedly slew three of the brutish warriors.  Hraal went into a rage and charged two of them, killing each of them in a single stroke, while being grievously wounded as well.  Master Ho and Tyco assisted the fallen while the combat was going on.

When the combat was over half of our number lay on the ground bleeding and the other half were left barely standing but the six Fomorri were dead.  We searched the bodies and found a great deal of loot.  The leader had a masterwork greataxe, which we gave to the Hudan warriors for fighting so bravely in our defense.  They had around 250 gold crowns worth of coin mostly in silver on them as well.  Also, the leader had a pair of diamond studded ankle bracelets probably stolen from a Hudan princess judging from their excellent craftsmanship and beauty.  Tyco looked at them to assess their value and quietly told us they were worth a great deal of money, lest he alert our new found allies of their value and turn them against us.

Due to our wounds we decided to return to the Hamlet to rest up and recover rather than pursue the bandits in our present condition.  Since the value of the bracelets was so much higher than the reward for the bandits and we didn’t have adequate healing capability we decided to return to Hammerstad and quit while we were ahead.  The reward for the bandits would have to wait for another time.  Raghnaal managed to sell the bracelets for 2,200 g.p. even though they were worth nearly twice that much.  It was the best offer we received in Hammerstad, being the largest city in the country of Necrovidia.  It was likely the best offer we were going to receive without traveling a great distance to another large city so we decided to take it.

We split up the profits equally between the group, Master Ho and the mercenaries (they each got one share).  Everyone then proceeded to buy new equipment.  Hraal finally had enough money to buy the pattern-welded broadsword that he had coveted at the armorer’s shop since his arrival in Hammerstad.  The Hudan warriors all bought chainmail shirts and new weapons.  Master Ho bought a new sword and some other weapons as well.

So ends the tale of how our brave adventurer’s learned of why the road was named as it was.  The fool’s path is an appropriate and fitting name indeed because only a fool who is ill prepared for it’s rigors dares to take it.  We have learned an important lesson and the next time we venture down it’s rutted rocky surface we will not do so in such a hasty manner.

Tales of Braxus: Hard Times In Hammerstad

Recap from 7-16-04

Our heroes met up in the town of Hammerstad with one goal in mind - the pursuit of immeasurable riches!  Hraal the Reaver, a barbarian Hudan from Hybronesse, traveled to Necrovidia to hire on as a mercenary in one of the many small wars occurring in the lands around the city.  However, when he arrived he found that all of the fighting was over and he had no skill to sell besides the use of his broadsword and axe and thus he was unemployed.  Hraal befriended a small rogue named Malik Tanglefox who then introduced him to his friend Tyco the bard and Master Ho a Balduin spirit shaman, their NPC ally.  And thus, the band of adventurers was forged.

The new group decided to seek out information in the city pertaining to the many ruins rumored to be in existence in the area where large amounts of wealth could be acquired at great peril to mind, body and spirit.  It was suggested that the group split up to cover more territory so Master Ho and Tyco went in one direction and Malik and Hraal went in another.  Tyco and Master Ho soon discovered that there was a group of caves off the Trader’s Way road on the peninsula northwest of town.  The rumor had it that the caves were once a holdout for Balduin bandits.  They also found out that Hammerstad was built on the ruins of one or two previous cities.  Many of these ruins could be seen on the fringes of Old Town across the river.  They found out that Old Town was a rough neighborhood where robberies and disappearances were common.  It was also rumored to contain a way into the underground ruins below the city.

Meanwhile, Hraal and Malik headed to the wharf to see what they could find out.  Soon, however, Hraal lost track of his small companion who seemed to just disappear into the crowd in a strange sort of way.  Hraal managed to strike up a conversation with a net mender who told him that someone was hiring people to investigate a disappearance and were paying the whopping sum of 5000 g.p. as a reward!  While this was going on Hraal noticed a commotion in another stall nearby but couldn’t determine what was happening.  He decided to return to the inn where they had agreed to meet up later to share his news with the others.

Once the group met up and discussed their findings they determined to pursue the potential reward for finding the missing person.  This time they split up with Malik and Tyco trying to find the identity of the employer in the main city and Hraal and Master Ho traveling to Old Town to seek out his identity.  Malik and Tyco discovered that there was a shortcut to the caves off the Trader’s way called the Fool’s path which passed through a small town and was rumored to be very dangerous (and thus the name).  They also found out that the man who was seeking investigators to find his missing companion was Vestan Irsimul and he could be found at the Inn of the Dancing Pony.  Also, it was discovered that the reward was a mere 100 gold pieces.

Meanwhile, Master Ho and Hraal made the trip across the river to Old Town.  It was very rough indeed as they witnessed a couple of children looting what they could from a corpse that lay sprawled out in the street.  They spotted a blind man who appeared to be begging and decided to see if they could find anything out about the man who was paying the reward to solve the mystery.  After beating around the bush a little bit and getting nowhere, Hraal put a silver piece in his cup and asked for the name of the man that was hiring.  At this point the beggar told him it was a man named Vestan Irsimul.  That’s when he noticed one of the street urchins poised with a dagger about to cut his purse loose!  He snatched the urchin’s hand and picked him up off the ground.  He then gave a great yell straight at his face and tossed the little thief to the ground.  Stunned, the youth dropped his dagger and ran along with his friends and the supposedly blind beggar who could see quite well where he was going as he fled.  Having gained a dagger and the information that they were looking for a mere silver piece Hraal and Master Ho returned to meet their companions and pool their information.

The group went to the Dancing Pony seeking Vestan Irsimul to try to apply for the job.  They soon found the man that they were seeking who told them a friend of his, Ahwad, had discovered the entrance to the undercity and then disappeared some time ago.  He offered the group 100 gold crowns up front to find him dead or alive and another 100 gold crowns each if we could retrieve his body.  He told us that Ahwad was a great friend of his and was a man of arms and learning.  He also described to us a six block area where he thought the entrance to the underground ruins was located.  Apparently, Ahwad and his guides had made an attempt to conceal the entrance in some way.  The group accepted the offer and was told to meet an associate of his near the bridge in the morning who would lead them to a hovel where they could base their search.

The next day the adventurers went to Old Town and met Yorgi, a Hyalmar bard, who led them to the hovel and gave them the keys.  During the search of the hovel, Malik found several items.  Under the floorboards he found some money, a longsword and some vials containing some sort of liquids.  In the chimney he found another sword which had a hollow handle containing a small parchment map with some notes scribbled on it.  The notes read, “Must return for Shezmar’s body.  He’s a valuable mage but so was his staff.  Also, must find water breathing spell – too dangerous without.”

After identifying a few of the liquids as healing potions and securing the hovel the group decided to try to find the entrance to the undercity.  They went to the area that Vestan had described and Malik soon found a hole in the ground, which was partially covered by a rock.  After the group moved the rock out of the way, Malik proceeded into the tunnel beyond cautiously with a rope tied to his waist and his lantern in his hand.  Hraal was holding the other end of the rope and eventually it went slack.  He decided to venture inside the tunnel to see what happened to Malik as the rest of the group followed.

They found Malik poised before a closed door at the end of a sixty foot corridor.  From the other side of the door we could hear voices saying, “They are coming”.  Master Ho laid his hand on Hraal’s shoulder and told him “this will help you if you are injured.”  Hraal kicked in the door and walked into the room.  He suddenly found himself flanked by two goblins, one on either side of the door.  He attempted to bull rush one who held his ground and managed to trip him.  Hraal was in trouble, lying prone on the ground.  The goblins attacked and hit him once and missed him a few times.  Tyco cast a stun spell on one of the goblins and Hraal managed to get back up shaking off the blow with the aid of master Ho's spell.  He then went into a blind rage and quickly dispatched the goblin in front of him with his sword and killed the goblin behind him with his axe.  Master Ho entered the room and engaged a third goblin who was wielding a bow across the room along with Malik.  They traded a few blows and Hraal ran over and finished the last one off.  They searched the bodies and took stock of their surroundings.  On one end of the room was a caved in tunnel and on the other side was a pit that led downward.  They pondered their next move…