|
Background and Summary: Eldarion's associates in Glantri
have figured out how to operate the Trehellian teleportation device
that the Party found. The Party volunteers to investigate a nearby
teleportation site; in theory, one on the coast of Brunland. They
arrive in an underground complex, above which they find a large
Green Dragon standing guard; they engage it in pleasant conversation,
attract the attention of a small army of Orcs and Trehellians, battle
them all, and die a painful death (well, just Trafalgar, Kera, Shiannan,
and Ragnar).
The survivors retreat back downstairs, and find a small Norse temple
complex of some sort. Experimenting with some magical runes on the
walls eventually teleports them to a similar complex nearby. There
they meet an archaeological expedition led by Louise the Magnificent.
They learn they are in Brunland, and hear about the legendary Shauna
and the Gnome Tones (Louise being the mother of one of Shaun's henchlings);
but the tales do not exactly jive with what Mei-Peng heard from
her mother, Tse. Most of the Party heads south to Tingis, in order
to have their dead companions raised. When they return, they find
that Louise has been captured. They track the attackers to Lüburg,
where they find an elaborate slaving operation. They invade it,
suffer many casualties, defeat the slavers, and ultimately rescue
Louise and many other slaves. Efforts to raise one of the casualties
- Mei-Peng - fail, leading to interesting events in the coming months.
|
|
Dafan time:
|
161 Janus 5 - Februa 9 (January-February) |
|
Real time:
|
2008 March - July (sessions 63-76) |
|
Starting members:
|
Mei-Peng
(N4), Vishu (Mk4), Aknot
(F4), Trafalgar (WrC4),
Kera (NtC4), Riff
(F4), Shiannan (R3),
Rehkel (T4), X
(MU4), Ragnar (NrC3),
Lily (A2) |
|
(Session 63)
|
|
Janus 5
(January)
|
Eldarion, having bought from the Party the Trehellian teleportation
device, invites the Party to a secret mage laboratory in Glantri.
He explains that his associates have figured out some of its basic
functions. They believe they know how to choose destination sites,
at least among the ones on this continent. And they believe they
have shut off the "doorbell" feature that would normally
alert people at the receiving end that visitors were arriving. With
such assurances, the Party decides to travel to what is likely the
second nearest teleport location, on the coast of Brunland.
|
| |
They find themselves in a large round room,
with another teleportation device set up. Besides the usual geometric
patterns etched into the floor, they also see a large spiral pattern.
There are two exits, one leading to stairs going down, the other going
up. The stairs up lead to the outdoors (a hilltop) and a very large
Dragon. X calls out to the Dragon, and starts a conversation; this
draws the attention of about 30 Orcs nearby, who charge up to investigate.
Ragnar takes this to be a challenge, and leads the Party fighters
out to engage the Orcs. Kera casts an entangle and X fires a fireball
from her wand (accidentally killing an Orc that Mei-Peng had just
charmed), reducing the chargers to little more than a dozen. |
| |
As the brawl continues, Vishu and then Kera
take up the conversation with the Dragon. It points out that it really
should be eating the Party (while Orc marrow is particularly nice,
Elves are very tasty if rather small), as it has an "agreement"
with the bosses of the Orcs; but as it has eaten recently and as so
far they are proving to be entertaining, it decides to watch for a
while. About the only thing that it admits might make it actually
help the Party is if they could give it some Hobbits; for some reason,
the bosses value Hobbits highly. But as there are no Hobbits handy,
the Dragon cannot be bought off. As well, Kera notices that it is
a Green Dragon (a rather muddy green); and they are known for being
nasty, grumpy, treacherous, and all around unpleasant. |
| |
In the meatime, Rehkel decides to explore
the other exit from the room they arrived in, and finds it leads down
to a large chamber with many archways. She returns to tell the Party,
but they are not at all interested, being far more interested in fighting
Orcs. |
| |
The Party has little difficulty defeating
the Orcs (although one tough one bashes Trafalgar quite a bit), but
see that a large village at the foot of the hill is producing many
dozens, perhaps hundreds, more Orcs. As the battle wraps up, the Dragon
suddenly jumps up and flies down the hill to the village. Kera sees
that it takes on 2 riders: Trehellians. The rest of the Party enthusiastically
awaits for their arrival. When it passes overhead, Lily even tries
to jump on board; but falls off. Shiannan shoots an arrow at it, in
order to anger it and make it land; that way, the Party figures, she
can attack it with her dragonslayer sword. The well-placed shot simply
bounces off the tough hide. Meanwhile, Mei-Peng casts a Hold Person
on the riders, and succeeds in paralysing the one in front. Her second
attempt gets the second rider, but moments later its wand fires anyway.
A fireball lands near the party and fries Shiannan, Ragnar, and Vishu.
|
| |
The paralysed Trehellians fall; the Dragon
succeeds in catching one, but the other hits the ground. Its wand
of Lightning Bolts breaks, and fires off bolts in every direction.
The Dragon is hit twice and becomes enraged (although the damage done
does not appear to be at all significant). It wheels around and attacks
the Party. As it approaches, half of the Party waits on the hilltop
for it to land; but for some strange reason, it decides to avoid being
hurt, and simply flies overhead and breathes poisonous chlorine gas
on the lot of them. Kera, Shiannan, Trafalgar, and Ragnar are killed. |
| |
The survivors remain on the hilltop, convinced
that the Dragon now will land and allow itself to be attacked. But
it is still angy with the world, and decides this time to attack the
Orcs. It throws the still-paralysed Trehellian at one clump of Orcs
coming up the hill; its wand breaks, and many Fireballs incinerate
the Orcs and the landscape. The Dragon then breaths on another clump
of Orcs, killing them all. It then flies off to the hazy horizon;
apparently its agreement with the Trehellians has just expired. |
| (S64) |
|
| |
After looting the dead Orcs and Trehellians,
and carrying their deceased comrades, the remains of the Party goes
back into the ruins, and goes downstairs. Beneath the round room into
which they teleported, they find two more round rooms; each with a
different motif inlaid in the floor. The bottommost room also has
16 magical Norse Runes on the wall. Unfortunately, as all their Clerics
are dead, they lack expertise in religious matters; so they resort
to experimentation, which reveals that the Runes inflict ever-increasing
damage to those who touch more than one of them in rapid succession.
Eventually someone deduces that touching them in "alphabetic"
order is a safe thing to do; and upon doing so, they immediately find
themselves in a very similar room. The three who actually experimented
with the Runes -- Riff, Mei-Peng, and Aknot --
also found they had a scar on one palm in the shape of the last Rune
they touched: Riff has Laguz, Mei-Peng has Raido, and
Aknot has Thorn. |
| |
Exploring upwards, they find that a similar
set of round rooms; but the topmost is filled with debris. Squeezing
through it, they exit to the surface. A vine takes offence and attacks,
causing weakness and numbness to many before being chopped down. |
| (S65) |
|
| |
The Party finds themselves on a tiny hill
in a marsh. A curious and friendly Elf named Atlanta spots
them, and leads them to an encampment: headquarters for an archaeological
expedition of the Guild of the White Star from Knoff, on the coast
of Brunland. Some of the people there seem to recognise some party
members as Tse, Gutezapre, and Baranfindel -- members of the legendary
"Gnome Tones" adventuring company of ages past. The leader,
Louise the Magnificent, even produces a charcoal portrait of
those three (who do bear a vague resemblance to Mei-Peng, Riff, and
Trafalgar), plus their fabulous leader, Shauna. Mei-Peng informs Louise
that she is Tse's daughter, and that the portrait was of "Team
Overkill" not the "Gnome Tones", who were merely a
backup band for Shauna in her entertainment acts. Louise, however,
remains convinced that the music act was merely a cover story for
the adventurers; her son, after all, was Louie, a henchling of the
fabulous Shauna herself! |
| Janus 6 |
Despite such disagreements, the Party feels
welcome and settles down for the night. The next day, the Party inquires
how best to revive some of their dead companions. Louise informs them
that most of Brunland is not very hospitable to Dwarves and Elves.
So all but Riff head south to Tingis, a small Brunland city known
for its tolerance of Elves and foreigners. Lily, the only surviving
Elf in the Party, travels in disguise. |
| Janus 8 |
Party is attacked by 11 pathetic bandits.
9 are killed, one is captured and turned over to the local authorities,
while one remains charmed to Mei-Peng: Nermal
(F1) joins the Party (under charm). |
| Janus 11 |
In Tingis, Party goes to temple of Berchta
and has Kera and Trafalgar raised. Trafalgar decides he is
needed more back in Glantri, and so Trafalgar retires. |
| (S66) |
|
| Training |
Rehkel and Lily train: Janus 11-19. |
| Janus 19 |
Party meets two adventurers looking for
something to do: Jett
(NtC2/F1) and Stelios
(F2) join. They then head back to Knoff marshes. |
| Janus 23 |
Party arrives at the archaeological camp,
only to find that it has been attacked. Riff, Atlanta, and a bodyguard
named Osric are the only survivors; they were away from the camp when
the attack occurred. As far as the Party can tell, Louise and
one other Gnome Mage were captured, while all the guards were killed.
Having nothing better to do, Osric
(MU1) and Atlanta (MU2)
join the Party. |
| |
Rehkel and Lily make discrete inquiries
in nearby Knoff, and learn that a band of ruffians carrying suspicious
sacks headed through town earlier that day. Follow the trail, which
leads to the largest town in east Brunland: Lüburg. |
| Janus 25 |
Inquiries indicate that an abandoned temple
complex in Lüburg houses a slaving operation run by some local
named Hengist, a cousin of the local duke. Lily scounts it
out, and spots a possible back way in where a building adjoining the
main temple has started to crumble as the ground beneath is gradually
slumping into the river. |
| Janus 26 |
Party decides to dress Riff up as a rich
Dwarf, and come back boldly into town and head to the complex, pretending
to be slave buyers. Meanwhile, Lily and Rehkel will attempt to sneak
in the back way. |
| (S67) |
|
| Janus 27 |
Lily and Rehkel find a way in, but meet
Basilisks and undead; the barely escape with their lives. They discretely
rejoin the rest of the Party as it walks through town. |
| |
The Party comes to the temple complex gate,
and demands to see Hengist. They are let in, and soon a meeting over
lunch occurs in a weedy courtyard between the Party and Hengist; many
Orc and Part-Orc guards are about. Riff says he's looking to buy some
skilled Gnome slaves, for a special mining operation up north (his
Gnomes having died). Hengist and a cleric named Marian seem ameniable
to negotiating a price, indicating that they may have just what Riff
is looking for. |
| |
When underlings fail to bring forth proof
of captive Gnome Mages (their spell books), Hengist and Marian leave
the courtyard, seemingly in a huff. At that moment, all the guards
attack the Party; clearly the negotiations had been (or ended up as)
a hoax.The Party kills all the guards, and goes through a promising
side door out of the courtyard. |
| (68) |
|
| |
Party comes to a very overgrown enclosed
garden. Four Harpies live there, and attack. Nermal decides this is
just too much excitement for his pathetic heart, turns in panic and
flees. |
| |
Party comes to a room filled with apparent
slaves chained up. It is a trap, however; the "slaves" are
Orcs, who attack the Party, together with some more significant fighters
and assassins who were hidden. The Party kills all but one, whom Mei-Peng charms: Bektom
(F5/NrC4) joins the Party (under charm). |
| (69) |
|
| |
Party completes exploration of one wing,
and has to return to the main courtyard. They are stopped, however,
by an invisible Gnome, who demands to know what they are doing there.
Mistrust eventually lead to a guarded truce, and the Gnome (Pimgreba)
states that she and some associates had been spying on the complex,
trying to determine if her cousin Louise had been brought there.
They didn't have the muscle to barge in and rescue Louise, but when
the Party arrived and a fight broke out, the Gnomes decided to sneak
in. They found an ambush being setup in the courtyard, and figured
that the Party needed some assistance; so they filled the courtyard
with fog, killed the Orcs, and were holding it to allow for the Party
to escape. They also reported that one Human had burst into their
battle and fallen; and so in fleeing, Nermal died. Party accepts
the offer of help, and leaves with the Gnomes. |
| Februa 1 |
Party and the Gnomes discuss plans. Bektom
tells his best friend Mei-Peng that slaves are kept beneath the temple,
and while he has never been there himself, he knows of two ways down:
one via the main sanctuary of the Temple, one near the stables side
building. The Party decides to take the stables route; the Gnomes
offer to provide illusionary cover for their entrance. |
| |
Party sneaks into the stables, and kills
4 Part-Orc guards. They find someone in the hay loft that claims to
be an escaped slave; they take "Karl" in and give
him a sword and shield, and he accompanies the Party for a while. |
| |
Bektom leads them to a set of stairs that
go down to a well-built tunnel complex. Exploring in an random direction,
the Party comes to a rough cavern containing huge, armed bipedal insects
(Aspis) and giant ants, as well as a large white blob - a queen insect,
perhaps? They enter nonetheless, and a fierce battle ensues with the
Party finding themselves outfought by the insects. X lays down a Wall
of Fire with her wand, blocking off ant reinforcements and burning
the insect front line. Bektom and Selios killed in battle,
Vishu almost dies as well. Osric claims that Karl fled during the
battle, but the Party soon finds that was not the case (in reality,
Osric killed). |
| (70) |
|
| |
The Party retreats back into the passageway.
Mei-Peng raises Bektom as a Zombie. When the Wall of Fire ends, they
go back into the cavern and find yet more giant insects; giant ants
attack while the Aspis just stand. The Party fights off the ants and
attacks the Aspis, which provokes them to retaliate. This time the
Party pervails, although Bektom-the-Zombie is taken down before he
gets his first swing. They investigate the multitude of small passageways
that leave the cavern, and see more ants. Mei-Peng and X cast various
spells in the hopes of tying up the ants; but then X comes to one
tunnel from which ants pour forth. X killed, Lily almost dies
as well. While most of the Party battles these ants, among the injured
at the back of the party "Osric" transforms into a hideous
beast, revealing himself to be a Doppleganger and attacks. Vishu,
Mei-Peng, and Atlanta barely manage to kill it. |
| |
The Party, now quite mangled, retreats.
On the way out, they spot the corpse of the real Osric. Karl had been
a Doppleganger: he had killed Osric during the first insect battle
when no one was looking, dragged his body off, and then transformed
to become Osric. |
| |
Returning to the stables, the Party finds
it held against them by temple guards who know that invaders were
about. The Party just rushes and kills them; but Lily again almost
dies. The Party again flees the complex under cover of illusions of
the Gnomes. |
| (71) |
|
| Februa 2 |
Party finds new accomodation in town (fearing
that they had stirred things up a bit much in the temple complex).
Mei-Peng makes inquiries of a shifty high-level Odin cleric named
Ecgric about having X raised. Osric and Stelios, on the other
hand, the Party decides to leave dead; proper burials are arranged
for them in town. Aknot begins training, as it is easy to arrange,
but all others in need of training do not. |
| Februa 3 |
X raised, while Vishu and Lily recover
from their wounds. X retires temporarily and begins training. |
| |
Lily tries to sneak back into the basement
of the temple complex, to see if she can find where slaves are being
kept. She only finds more giant insects, and flees. Meanwhile, the
Gnomes introduce Vishu and Riff to 2 Hobbits looking for an adventuring
Party, putting Vishu's diplomatic skills to the test. The Party is
impressed with the culinary skills of Marek but is not at all impressed
by the eating habits of Harne; but in the end accept them: Marek
(T3) and Harne (R2) join.
|
| Februa 8 |
Aknot having finished training, the Party
sneaks back into the complex under the cover of the Gnomes' illusions.
Their attempt to sneak into the stables fails dismally, with Mei-Peng's
Sleep spell affecting more party members than foes; but there are
only 4 guards, so the Party easily forces their way in. |
| (72) |
|
| |
Having got into the complex again, the
Party decided that a plan would be useful. Examining their maps, they
realise that a ladder they passed in the tunnels below likely comes
up near the garden with the Harpies. As the last foray downstairs
just led to bugs, maybe the other way down (inside the temple itself)
would be more useful; and it can be best reached via the sidedoor
near the garden. So Mei-Peng ignites the empty stables as a distraction,
and the Party heads down, over, and up. Another Harpy is encountered
in the garden, and dispatched. In the main courtyard, they find 6
alert guards, who are also dispatched. |
| |
Entering the grand hallway leading to the
inner sanctuary, the Party becomes suspicious of the rows of statues.
A detect magic doesn't reveal anything until they get half way down
the hallway, and detects what could be a Glyph of Warding. Riff thinks
to just walk forward anyway, but gets a Bad Feeling about that action.
Aknot goes back to the courtyard, returns with a not-quite-dead guard,
and tosses it forwards. The guard triggers some magical effect that
causes two statues to crash together - a painful-looking trap. Aknot
tosses the dying guard several more times, and concludes that the
rest of the hallway is safe. |
| |
Meanwhile, most of the rest of the Party
feels that a more living "volunteer" is required to clear
the hallway. They head back to the courtyard and look for archers
on the walls above. Some beings are up there, so Lily and Vishu climb
up to get them. However, they find that those beings are Ghouls -
perhaps not useful for testing Glyphs. Furthermore, both stupendously
dextrous climbers fall when they attempt to battle the Ghouls, and
most attempts to shoot the Ghouls with missiles fail dismally. More
Ghouls appear on the wall and rapidly climb down; at this, the Party
quickly defeats them all; Aknot, however, is paralysed. |
| (73) |
|
| |
Carrying Aknot, the Party goes to the end
of the hallway and enters the inner sanctuary. The cleric Marian and
some hefty Orc bodyguards have been (im)patiently waiting for them
(with all the racket in the hallway, how could they not?) and a messy
battle begins. The enemy proves almost impossible to hit; a Silence
spell foils most of the spellcasters; and a Troll appears from one
corner. The Party is victorious, but Lily is killed and Vishy,
Jett, and Rehkel almost die. |
| |
One wounded guard, Galtok, is charmed
and befriended by Mei-Peng after the battle. On the cleric they find
an odd device that clicks when shaken - they deduce (and then Galtok
confirms) that it is be a device that allows communication with the
Aspis. |
| (74) |
|
| |
10 slaves chained up in the room (likely
intended as sacrifices to Gruumsh). Marek gives them 2sp each for
food or clothes; the Party escorts them to the courtyard and sends
them on their way. The fire in the stables is still providing a useful
distraction, so no guards stop them. The Party then returns to the
rooms near the walled garden and sacks out for the night. |
| Februa 9 |
Early in the morning, the watch hears a
commotion in the walled garden. They observe a Dwarf finish off two
Harpies. After a round of introductions and insults - Riff is put
out by the fact that the Dwarf is female, unmarried, and not home
in the kitchen where she belongs - the Party inquires as to why the
Dwarf is here. Being in town and hearing of there being a Gruumsh
temple, she was intent on marching up and dispatching it; the Gnomes
intercepted her, and suggested that she meet up with the Party. As
she marched up the entrance path, two Harpies attacked, intent on
carrying her back to the garden for a big feast. Unfortunately, the
Dwarf proved to be nearly impossible for them to carry; and by the
time they got her to the garden, they were utterly exhausted, making
it easy for the Dwarf to kill them. This sounded like a good enough
reason to take her in, so Sister Sarah
(WrC2) joins. The Party also decides to bury Lily in the garden,
not really wanting to bring her back to life and not knowing where
else would be safe to put her body. |
| |
The Party sneaks back to the inner sanctuary,
and finds it untouched since the battle.They open the trap door and
go down. They find more rough tunnels and soon meet more Aspis. This
time, however, Marek downs a potion of Tongues and so the Party can
engage in coversation rather than a battle. The Aspis have no problem
with the Party passing through - and even volunteer information as
to which way humans travel - as long as they disturb nothing and leave
any human corpses where they fall (i.e. food). |
| |
They soon come to well-build passageways
and a large, lit room filled with captives in cells. The see some
Orcs and humans strolling between the cells, discussing the captives.
The Party attacks. One of the enemy unleashes several ball lightning
orbs on the Party, one of which instantly kills Galtok. Before
he can unleash more pain on the Party, Mei-Peng hits him with an Acid
Arrow, interrupting a spell; a sizeable explosion of magical energy
erupts, killing all within 10' (both enemies and captives). Several
Aspis arrive on the scene from a further entrance, but the Party is
victorious. |
| |
All surviving captives are freed, including
Louise the Magnificent and her companion. Some are fed from
stores found in an adjoining room. One volunteers to fight with the
Party, wanting to kill every slaver he can find. Eagerness and skill
being an insufficient trait for volunteers, Mei-Peng charms him; then
Xanthos (F) joins.
She has a long talk with Xanthos about life down south (he comes from
the island of Aissos, which Mei-Peng knows). |
| (75) |
|
| |
The Party is in poor shape and almost out
of spells, but pushes on "just a bit further". They explore
an odd, large chamber with many cells built into the floor with mechanisms
for raising and lowering ceilings and walls. They find a nice door
at the foot of a short staircase, determine that enemies lie beyond,
and decide to attack. Marek picks the lock; Mei-Peng is all set to
unleash a Wall of Fire from X's wand, but the moment the door is opened,
the steps tilt and turn the staircase into a ramp. Beyond the door
is more stairs-turned-ramp, and Marek and Mei-Peng slide into a round
chamber lined with Orcish archers. |
| |
Battle ensues. Various Party members slide
down the ramp so as to partake, and are shot at by the archers. Much
movement is spotted in an adjoining room - mostly a wall of fur, as
Giant Weasels erupt to attack - and so Riff fires a Javelin of Lightning
and Mei-Peng unleashes a Wall of Fire into the room. Besides frying
a few Weasels, they also (unknowingly) nearly kill Hengist
(and destroy his only Potion of Healing). The Party kills all of the
Weasels and Orcs, but Hengist, invisible, sneaks up to the mage that
fried him and runs her through: Mei-Peng killed. The charm
on Xanthos ends, but he hates slavers anyway and so chops down Hengist. |
| (76) |
|
| |
After some brief exploring, the battered
Party and the rescued captives tries to hide and rest in a pair of
store rooms. After a few hours, some Orcs arrive, intending to move
some prisoners; a battle ensues. The Party wins, but is even more
battered; so they decide to exit the way they came. They meet nothing
until the main courtyard, in which a Harpy and two Ghouls are fighting
over the corpses left by the Party yesterday. The Party defeats them,
and hastily exits the complex. |
| |
For the time being, Xanthos decides to
stay with the Party. X rejoins the party. |
| |
|
| Training |
Februa 10-28: every living Party member
needs training. |
| |
|
| Raises |
The Party takes the corpse of Mei-Peng to
Ecgric, the Odin cleric. There is some speculation that her
being a Necromancer, or perhaps because she had somehow bypassed 250
years, her return from the Land of the Dead might be problematic.
He attempts to raise her, but is unsuccessful. He concludes that,
despite the fact that her death was from a very clean dagger thrust
to the heart, her body is too damaged to survive the ordeal. The
Party has her buried in the burial ground of the esteemed Mages Guild
of Lüburg. |
|
Surviving members:
|
Vishu
(Mk5), Aknot (F5), Trafalgar
(WrC4), Kera (NtC5), Riff
(F5), Rehkel (T5), X
(MU5), Jett (NtC3/F1), Atlanta
(MU3), Marek (T4), Harne
(R3), Sarah (WrC3), Xanthos
(F4) |
|
New members:
|
Nermal (F0), Jett, Stelios, Osric (M1), Atlanta, Bektom
(F5/NrC4), Marek, Harne, Sarah, Xanthos |
|
Casualties:
|
Trafalgar (revived), Kera (revived), Shiannan, Ragnar,
Nermal, Bektom, Stelios, Osric, X (revived), Lily, Mei-Peng |
|
Retirees:
|
Trafalgar, Harne |
|
Continuing party:
|
Vishu, Aknot, Kera, Riff, Rehkel, X, Jett, Atlanta, Marek, Sarah,
Xanthos
|
|
