Khorvaire the final session

Session 17: The Final Reckoning (8^th August 2012)

The cast of heroes

Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party

Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscle
Knil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar

Preparation (Day 296-301)

The requests for aid were responded to during the following week. Knil received a letter and a package from the Elves which contained a new magical grip for his bow that would make his shots truer, and a message stating that a small contingent of archers would be with them within a week. A wagon was drawn up and left just outside the main southern gates of the stronghold. Korum investigated and found that there was a letter pinned to it that was addressed to him. His thievish colleagues from various towns to the north had sent him a large shipment of weapons, some low level magical, and word that their delaying tactics were taking its toll on the approaching armies – there was a large one coming from the north and a slightly smaller one from the south. They would appear at the gates in around six or seven days time, at the same time as other uprisings would be occurring throughout the whole realm. Rioja received word that Thalleus and twenty low level mages would be joining him in a couple of days and Arken was informed that an Archpriest of Din would be arriving with a handful of clerics and a dozen or so paladins to help with the defences and the healing of any who get injured in the coming conflict. Bardan kept an eye on the training of the household troops, bringing them all up to scratch, just as he received word from Tim, their steward, that he had managed to procure the services of a well known mercenary band consisting of 150 veteran warriors, and that they would appear in the next couple of days.

Plans were discussed and the various leaders assigned to their duties; the merchants, guildhall and tavern staff would act as runners and stretcher bearers. The iron golem was instructed to destroy anyone that approached the tower by any route other than the main pathway. The gates at both entrances were locked and barred with entrance now only available by the smaller sally port doors. The guards at each watchtower and along the walls were bolstered and set to watch for the enemy’s approach, especially over the weaker points of the walls where the river flowed through and the minor gateway that led to the dungeon complex.

Over the next few days, the promised aid started to arrive. They were also assigned their tasks for the defence of the village. The lower level mages were allocated to each of the ballistae to provide Mend spells and Magic Missile, whilst Rioja, the head mage and a couple of minor mages led a back-up support team. The mercenaries were assigned to the walls and towers alongside the village’s militia, and fifty were kept back as a reserve force in case of any breakthrough. The clerics were all assigned to the tower to aid in healing anyone injured, and the paladins formed a core support force for the eastern gate. The spare ballista was set up behind the main southern gate to provide a heavy weapon support in case that gate was breached. The elves were directed to provide a strong core of missile weapons, with a handful outside the boundary of the village to act as pickets and early warning.

The Battle of Gerudos Valley (Day 302)

As evening fell on the last day of preparation, the elves on picket duty reported that two large armies were approaching from the north and south. Around the same time, a band of dirty, bloodied men in light armour approached the main gates. They were a small unit of thieves tasked with slowing down the approaching enemies. They had taken many casualties, but their tricks, traps and ambushes had slowed the army down a bit. They were invited into the stronghold and sent to the inn to have their light wounds dressed and a warm meal. Just as night began to fall, the guards on the north wall called out that camp fires were being lit in the distance – the enemy had arrived.

Nothing happened during the night, but the following morning saw the approach of several siege engines and hordes of warriors towards both the eastern and southern gates. The siege army would take about two hours to arrive, but before the eastern gates appeared a small contingent from the hostile army under a flag of truce. The envoy requested the surrender of the town and all inside would be spared – all the party had to do was come outside the walls and all would be settled. The adventurers responded that they would not surrender, and did not trust the envoy. They sent out a goat as their representative to add further insult and said that the enemy would have to take the town as they would not give it up so easily.

About an hour or so later, war horns sounded and a large cry went up from the approaching enemy. The dragon cult warriors charged the stronghold carrying siege ladders, supported by a small force of archers, but then the ballistae and Elven archers opened fire. The enemy took a few casualties before they reached the gates but carried on regardless. However, they were surprised by the unexpected numbers of defenders behind the walls, and slowly they had to retreat. The siege engines closed in to make their attack, but as soon as they passed a certain point, Bardan ordered the fire arrows to target the pits of flaming oil. The fire managed to destroy several of the siege engines, and the low level mages in the ballista towers saw to the destruction of the firing mechanisms of the catapults. Only a few battering rams were now left, and these were quickly put to work on the main gates.

Fade to Black

The battle wore on with neither side gaining the upper hand or making a decisive blow. Evening approached but it seemed to be a little darker than it should ordinarily have been. The warriors outside the gates renewed their attacks and the defenders started to waiver when they saw a dark mass approaching – the Darkness had returned. Orders were barked out to start lighting fires and braziers to keep the Darkness at bay, but no sooner were they lit than they were extinguished.

An enormous gust of wind and the clap of gigantic leathery wings preceded a booming voice heard mainly in the head than by the ears, “Aspects of Aphyros come forth and meet me!” The adventurers saw that warriors on both sides of the conflict had cowered somewhat with the arrival of the dark dragon. The Darkness had reached the walls and was felling friend and foe alike, the fire in the hearts of the attacking horde soon turned to cold screams of fear and anger.

The party decided to ride out and meet the dragon at a place of their choosing outside the gates but away from the ongoing battle. They gave control of their forces over to the mage Thalleus, the Archpriest of Din and Tim, their steward. As the gates opened, the Darkness pulled back enough to let them through, but closed onto the walls again just as soon as they passed. The party headed to a clearing in the forest not half a mile away, with the Darkness dogging their heels but not attacking them.

They arrived at the glade at the same time as the great black dragon. With a final huge flap of its wings, Nephyros alighted on several large oak trees, crushing the upper boughs, and let out a mighty roar. He asked the party where he might find Aphyros skulking but the party replied that they did not know – they were more than a match for this jumped up lizard and didn’t need the good dragon’s help. This angered the proud dragon and he started to try to convince them that they were aspects of Aphyros that had to be destroyed in the same way that his aspects were destroyed by them. Arken tried to respond that they were not aspects of Aphyros but were acting under their own free will but he was struck dumb at the command of the powerful dragon lord. Nephyros leapt down from the trees to confront the upstart cleric but, angered by being struck silent, Arken swung his mace at him. He landed a solid blow, but his mace seemed to strike a solid wall of force before Arken himself was thrown back several paces by the magical recoil. Bardan had seen his companion move in to attack and he struck simultaneously, only to have the same thing occur to him. Korum, who had seen this all happen tried to hamstring the dragon, but his blow was also repulsed and he too was thrown back several paces. The dragon roared and leapt back into the trees just as the injured trio regained their feet.

Korum shouted that Nephyros was a coward and should face the party in a straight fight. At this moment, Knil launched a brace of his best magical arrows at Nephyros, but they just splintered to firewood upon impact with the magical barrier. In response, the dragon drew back his head and spewed forth a huge jet of darkness towards Arken. However, the dark breath did not reach him as it was blocked by a bright glowing barrier. Nephyros was surprised by this, but then grinned evilly as he heard the clap of another pair of enormous wings approaching the glade; Aphyros had arrived to fight the final battle. Nephyros launched himself into the air, the buffeting of his wings knocked over the adventurers, and headed directly towards the white dragon.

The adventurers realised they could play no more part in this aerial dog-fight so decided to return to the village to see if they could help out in the battle raging there. When they arrived before the southern gates, they noticed that the ground was littered with the dead and dying from the Dragon Cult horde, and the remnants of the army had started to retreat. The walls of the stockade had held up well to the onslaught of the enemy but had been damaged in a few places. However, there was still a small knot of enemy before the gates who had decided they would rather die in the service of the dark dragon lord than run away. Encouraging their horses to a gallop, the party smashed through this small knot of resistance, and headed towards the gates. The mage Thalleus ordered the gates opened and a large force of mercenaries exited and finished off the last of the evil horde.

The Final Battle

Now that the horde had been defeated, all eyes turned to the skies above. Fear was etched on the faces of all those that watched, as Aphyros dropped to the forest floor with a wailing screech, closely followed by a triumphant looking Nephyros. The party now had to make a decision. Arken made haste to the Temple of Din, and requested her aid one final time to help the white dragon. She granted each member of the party a boon that would aid them in the coming fight. Arken and Rioja were granted extra spells, Bardan and Knil were granted extra combat qualities and Korum became undetectable.

The two dragons crashed to earth about a mile from the village, so the party saddled up once more and rode out to meet their foe. They could feel the almighty struggles rumbling through the earth as they approached the scene of the battle. They got to within fifty paces only to see that Nephyros had the upper hand. Aphyros was bleeding from several large wounds and his white light was slowly dimming.

Rioja let loose with a Fireball, just as two arrows hit the dark dragon. The rest of the party moved in to strike the dragon the best they could. Korum began by slashing at the dragon’s hamstrings, causing a roar of pain to erupt from him. Bardan and Arken struck with their magical axe and mace respectively. The dragon, able to deflect his attention away from Aphyron momentarily was able to strike at both armoured warriors causing them injury. Another Fireball and magical arrow also found their mark. It was noted by Rioja that the back-blast that would have hit other party members within the area of effect of the exploding fireball seemed to be directed away from them by a barrier of white light – Aphyros was protecting them.

Another hamstring being cut by Korum, and more Fireballs hitting his upper body led to Nephyros screeching in pain and anger which was all directed at the mage Rioja. A stream of darkness was aimed at the mage causing him some discomfort, before he sent back his last Fireball. In the confusion of the melee, Arken and Bardan were unable to strike their target and Knil’s shots went wide.

Climbing up onto the dragon’s back allowed Korum to strike at another vulnerable spot. The dragon could not detect where the source of the pain was coming from, so took his anger out on those before him. Magic missiles flew in causing the dragon momentary blindness, and two more magical arrows from Knil’s bow struck true. The warrior in front of him was the easiest target, so Bardan felt the full force of the dragon’s claws and bite. Arken stepped in to heal his friend just as Korum struck another critical blow diverting the dragon’s attention away from the injured warrior. A final flurry of Magic Missiles and magical arrows made Nephyros strike back one last time, missing with his teeth and claws, and his breath weapon was diverted by a strong barrier of white light.

Fearing that he may now lose this battle, the great black dragon launched himself into the air. The few minutes of respite the party had given Aphyros, was enough time to recover some of his powers, and he too leaped into the air to catch his fleeing enemy. He pulled him back towards the ground and with his mighty jaws ripped out the throat of his eons old enemy. With a final pulse of darkness, the black dragon crashed to the earth. The damage he had sustained in the battle was too great and he slowly turned to stone. The stone image of Nephyros then crumbled to dust where he lay. Aphyros let out a huge roar of triumph; his fight was finally over.

The party cautiously approached the venerable white dragon and asked if it was finally over and whether Nephyros was truly dead. Aphyros responded that that was indeed the case, and now he must leave them to live out the rest of his days in peace. Arken asked if the party would be able to call upon him in their hour of need as a reward for their aid, but the dragon responded only that he may consider it now that his job here was completed. Aphyros called out a final farewell and flew off towards the newly risen moon.

Aftermath

The adventurers returned to their village to find that the clean up had already begun. Bodies were being stripped in readiness for burial or cremation, their weapons and armour being requisitioned if in good condition. The enemy were heaped onto a huge pyre but the defenders were buried within one of the crypts within the dungeon complex with full honours. The paladins that were killed were entombed within the crypt beneath the Temple of Din. Overall, casualties had been quite light for the defenders, maybe only fifteen percent, but the enemy had suffered far more heavily.

Over the next few days, the mercenaries received their final payment and headed off to adventures new. The Elves, mages, and warriors of Din all returned from where they came, and most of the thieves had already made their way back to their home guilds.

Life slowly returned to the village, and a celebration was laid on at Korum’s tavern. All were welcome and all were thoroughly entertained. However, Bardan became a little unruly and had to be physically removed – a dumping in the horse water trough brought him back to his senses and he vowed he would get even with the Halfling.

Khorvaire Session 16 - 01/08/12

Session 16: The Cult of the Dark Dragon Lord (1^st August 2012)

The cast of heroes

Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party

Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscle
Knil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar

A Call to Arms (Day 287)

The party’s work never seemed to be done. The threat of the dragon Nephyros would mean a continent in turmoil; bandits, cultists and evil men abroad, harassing the farmers and townsfolk of Khorvaire. The band of adventurers realised that the scale of this war would escalate, and they needed more help than just the good nature of the local town and their immediate environs. They decided to visit the mayor and fill him in on the dire situation and request his aid in the forthcoming struggle.

The mayor mentioned that there was a cult that was growing in numbers over the last year, but he thought it was just one of those “End of the World” cults so chose not to take any notice of it. He said that they preached about the coming of the end and that the cult members would inherit the world in the aftermath of the conflagration. He also mentioned that members seemed to be strong and fit – just the right type of people for an armed struggle. The party requested any form of aid he could give them and he said he would send a small armed contingent and tents for refugees, but as he would also be looking to his own defences, that was all he could spare right now. The party were grateful for this.

Knil sent out word to his Elf kin, Arken requested aid from the Temple of Din, Rioja put out the word for help to other mages in the land and Korum spoke to the Thieves’ Guild for any rumours they had heard about the cult doing the rounds.

Over the next couple of days offers of support and aid started to come in. The elves would be sending a small force to bolster the defences of Gerudos (they would arrive in about two months), and the Temple of Din promised a few clerics and paladins would arrive prepared for war. The fame of the adventurers also brought in more recruits to swell the ranks of their small militia.

Rioja started to Miracle Grow food for storage in case a long drawn out siege or war was to affect the local population – he thought two years of supplies hidden away in their dungeon complex would feed the locals in their time of need. He also grew cash crops to sell so that the heroes could hire on a small mercenary army to bolster their own small force.

Korum’s request for rumours paid dividends. The local thieves had their ears close to the ground and told him that the Cult of the Dragon, based in the woods near Darguun half a day’s travel away, was fortifying and building fortresses. He arranged for his stable boy (also a member of the local Thieves Guild) to join and attempt to infiltrate the cult. They arranged certain ways of communicating with each other that only Thieves would know about.

The Cult of the Dragon (Day 292)

Preparations seemed to be going to plan until a few days later when Korum received a request for aid from the stable boy who had infiltrated the cult. His cover had been blown and he needed rescuing – but under cover rather than a full blown military operation. The coded message also mentioned that the cult had spread throughout Khorvaire, they had accumulated vast armouries and were about to mobilise. The local cult numbered around four dozen and had occupied a few stone fortresses within the Darguun Forest. The stone fortresses were well defended both physically and magically. It appeared that the cult was also well aware of the adventurers but spoke of them with fear. Korum knew just the person to affect this rescue mission.

Bardan, in disguise, along with a couple of the local thieves joined the cult by offering their fighting abilities. They were given the same contact instructions by Korum and set off into the woods to attend one of the strongholds. Korum and Knil followed at a discreet distance and began to scout out the area over the next few days, whist Bardan and the two thieves settled in. Bardan immediately attracted attention due to his fighting prowess and was able to meet the cult’s local leader, Chamdar. Chamdar was always accompanied by three heavies, but Bardan did not see them as a threat. He would create a diversion so that the two thieves could rescue their comrade, the stable boy, and escape with as much information as possible.

The fighter managed to pull one of the cultists to one side between rituals and prayer sessions and began to interrogate him. He found out that they were due to strike Gerudos within the next couple of weeks after a long period of preparation. At the same time, other cult cells would attack other local power centres, destroying them in the process and thus paving the way for domination and the coming of the Dark Dragon Lord. In true Bardan fashion, he knocked out the follower and stashed him outside the stronghold where Knil and Korum would find him. He grabbed his robes and further disguised himself as a brother of the cult. He then returned to the stronghold in order to look for Chamdar.

It did not take him long to make his way to Chamdar’s chamber. The three heavies were standing guard outside the door. Bardan pulled back the hood of the robe to reveal who he was. One of the guards immediately cowered in fear and scuttled to the nearest corner but the other two drew their swords. In two strokes of his axe, the fight was over. He sauntered over to the third guard, knocked him cold and tied him up.

The commotion brought Chamdar to the door of his room and he stuck his head out to see what was happening. Bardan head-butted Chamdar, which knocked him out, and tied the cult leader up securely. Bardan searched the room beyond the door and grabbed a few scrolls that he thought looked important. He also found a small pouch containing 500 gold pieces. In true Bardan fashion, he set light to the chamber, picked up the leader and exited through another door in the chamber opposite the one he had entered through. This led through a maze of tunnels that exited the keep outside of its protective walls on a cliff above the sea.

Interrogation (Day 295)

The commotion caused by Bardan gave the two thieves the chance to track down the stable boy and rescue him. The flames set by Bardan spread quickly and the smoke rising from the fortress was seen by Knil and Korum. They made their way to the agreed rendezvous point and met with Bardan, who took a short while to get there due to the distance involved getting from the secret exit. They had two prisoners to interrogate, so they could now gather more information about this dreaded cult.

They took the bound and blindfolded prisoners to their dungeon complex for questioning. Normal interrogation did not seem to work upon Chamdar. He felt the pain but would not reveal any secrets of the cult. It was then that Arken released him from the spell he was under by Commanding his cooperation. This did the trick and although the party did not learn anything new everything that they had learned thus far was confirmed. Bardan was tasked with putting Chamdar out of his misery and the underling was set free to return to his cult and spread the word about how they were right to fear the adventurers and the return of Aphyros.

Everybody returned to making preparations for the forthcoming battle. The palisade surrounding the village was coming along nicely and would be finished in a few days. Korum and Bardan oversaw the final construction whilst Knil began training archers. Korum was pleased to see his stable boy was back where he belonged and the two thieves reported back to their Guild.

The party now had a fairly hefty defensive force…

An earth and wood palisade now surrounded the entire village

4 towers contained ballistae at strategic points and the main gates also had 2 ballistae
6 Ballistae with full crews were now in active service
25 drilled and trained light infantry (spear, sword, ring mail and shield)
30 competent light infantry (ditto above)
20 basically trained light infantry (ditto above)
12 well trained heavy infantry (from local town)

More patrols were set up and those on guard duty were doubled in number. They were now just awaiting the arrival of Knil’s elven kin, the paladins and clerics from the Temple of Din, the magic users who said they would aid Rioja and for Bardan to begin recruiting suitable mercenaries to aid in their defence.

The village had enough stores in the dungeon complex to feed the entire population for 2 years. Rioja had also sold enough grain for the local town to hold out for a while too. Tim, the steward, was very busy making sure that their war chest was kept topped up and the books balanced. The entire party donated all of their wealth to the project, meaning Tim had 20-30,000 gold pieces with which to make final preparations. The underground tunnel complex was also completed at last, linking Rioja’s Tower, the Temple of Din, Korum’s Tavern, Knil’s tree and the dungeon complex. The only ones who knew about this complex of tunnels were the party themselves.

 

The adventurers now waited for the storm to begin.

Khorvaire - Session 15 - 25/07/2012

Session 15: The Diamond (25^th July 2012)

The cast of heroes

Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party

Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscle
Knil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar

Eoforwic Bound (Day 245-268)

Realising that they had no further use for the great diamond, the party decided to head to the nearest major city in an attempt to sell it. The smaller towns in their locale would not have the capacity or wealth to purchase a gem of such value, so the great nobles and merchants of a large city would be required to provide the market. Eoforwic, the capital city of Mournland, was chosen as their destination. Preparations were made for the likelihood of the return of the Darkness and the party set off.

After just over two weeks travelling the party arrived in Eoforwic. They made for the most expensive inn in the city, The Bandit’s Arms, where they rented a room each that led off of a private lounge area and started to make their preparations for the sale of the great diamond. They had it independently valued as being worth several tens of thousands of Gold Pieces in several places and made it known that they would be selling the jewel by auction in the market square in one week’s time. Interest was quickly expressed, but there were five main front runners as the purchasers: a local noble, two gem traders and two collectors.

The preliminary planning took a couple of days, so the party had a few days to get on with preparations until auction day. They all headed off in their own directions, except for Bardan.

Knil spent his time looking for some new weapons and armour to purchase when he got his share from the sale of the diamond, and made himself at home in the large tree just outside the window of the party’s main leisure room at the inn. He would guard the approach to the private room from the outside.

Bardan set up a vigil for the diamond in the private lounge. He placed it in the middle of the room within its box and set his chair in the corner where he could keep an eye on both the window and door of the chamber. After a short while there was a slight noise from the wall beside him. A secret panel started to shift aside and a shadowy figure was revealed within the hidden compartment. Bardan used his elbow to strike the figure, which yelped in surprise, dropped out of sight and promptly escaped. Obviously thieves were aware of the treasure and were attempting to get their piece of the action. Bardan re-closed the secret door, tied a string across the hidden compartment and also similarly trapped the window. No thieves would be getting past him now he knew about the other entrance to the room.

Arken headed to the Temple of Din located within the city. He prayed and confided in his god but no further information was forthcoming to aid their quest. He made a large donation and returned to the party’s private quarters at the inn. Bardan told him his story, so Arken set three wards and glyphs around the diamond. So it was now magically as well as physically guarded.

Rioja set off to the city library to try to find out some more information about Nephyros and the Darkness. The public shelves could tell him no more than he already knew, but one tome did reference an older ledger that may still be in existence that perhaps could give a little more information. He tried to find out if the library had one in its private collection but the clerk was blind to all his advances. Rioja awaited a change of staff later in the day to see if another clerk would be more amenable to his questioning. Luckily the late shift clerk was a little more sympathetic to Rioja’s cause and after hinting heavily about how hard it was to feed his large family passed the magic user a key to the archive vaults. The main proviso was that the clerk would be back early in the morning to turf him out before the senior librarian arrived. Rioja thanked him for his wisdom with more than a few gold coins, and made his way into the vault as the clerk locked the library for the night.

Rioja headed past rows of glass fronted cabinets containing curios of days gone by before alighting upon the private collection. He eventually found the tome he was looking for and made notes of what he found out. The three aspects of Nephyros were mentioned but only two were purposefully created by the dragon. The Hawk and the Beast were the main two aspects, but upon withdrawing those essences from himself, he also inadvertently created the Darkness. The tome mentioned that there was no real way of destroying it as it was created by accident and not as the end result of a ritual which could be reversed. The book, cryptically, mentioned a farmer who encountered the Darkness which didn’t really fit in with the rest of the book, but it gave a description that matched what the party had encountered previously. The final few pages of the ancient text also mentioned that over all the millennia that the fight between Light and Darkness had been drawn over ended with about a three to five ratio with Aphyros winning the struggle. However, the last battle ended differently; Nephyros had created the new aspects to help pave the way for victory in their next encounter (the battle that was being fought now). He had never split himself prior to this. The last sentence mentioned that the Darkness had been roaming free for the last millennium but was slowly growing in power, as well as being independent of the other two forces. Rioja checked the night oil and found it was running low, so he used the remainder of his time browsing through random tomes until the return of the clerk. He was able to find a few spells contained within the dusty pages of the books, so he copied them down for future study and reference. The clerk arrived back a little while before opening time and ushered Rioja out into the dew laden streets. The mage returned to the Bandit’s Arms.

Korum was a little more secretive than his compatriots. After getting the horses stabled and the rooms sorted he hid himself from general view so that as few people as possible could relate him to the party with the diamond. He slipped out of the inn and headed towards the Thieves’ Guild. He managed to find it easily enough by following certain sigils carved upon the lintels above the doors of certain buildings. He passed the lock entrance test to be faced by an attractive female human receptionist. However, as he later discovered, she didn’t have hairy feet so she dropped quite drastically in his estimation. He requested an audience with the master of the Guild, and after answering a few simple questions that only a high ranking thief would know the answer to, was led through a small antechamber and into a courtyard where he was met by a tall, thin human wearing an elaborate robe. He was shown around the courtyard to see what the members were getting up to and finally into the chamber of the master thief. He made sure he noticed all of the faces, doors and escape routes as he proceeded through the complex. When he was finally alone in the presence of the master he discussed his plans to steal the diamond and present it to the Guild. The Master agreed to reward him in return for purloining the diamond but warned him that others were after it too, and may already have it in their possession. Korum mentioned that he would be the one to bring it to the master before any of the others could. Rather than return directly to The Bandit’s Arms he decided to check in to a poorer establishment to throw any follows off the scent. He bided his time, and realised that he was being followed but was able to work out the pattern of observation so slipped away back to The Bandit’s Arms for a couple of hours to explain what he was up to.

The whole party had now arrived back at the inn so told their stories about what they had found out. Korum trapped the secret door to stop further incursions from that direction and they all realised that they may be able to sell the diamond for a great amount, steal it back from whoever bought it and then implicate the Thieves’ Guild after Korum had claimed a reward for it. Arken, Bardan and Knil remained in the inn to guard the jewel whilst Rioja contacted Laerus to see if he had a contact in the city. He gave Rioja the name of one of his friends who owed him a favour. Korum headed back to the run down tavern to resume his part for the cover story.

One More Day (Day 268)

The following morning, Rioja headed off to visit Laerus’s mage friend for more information. Unfortunately, he was unable to tell Rioja anything other than what he already knew but, as recompense, the wizard was able to teach him a few new spells.

Korum began investigating the five main interested parties, and cased their homes, warehouses and guard routines. He was able to find out that none of the other thieves would be attempting to steal the jewel until after the transaction. He made it known that he would be stealing it before the auction to deter others from accosting the party. During his investigations he was also able to book six guards to escort the party to the auction site and then accompany them to get the diamond safely to the stronghold of the buyer. He also asked Rioja to cast a cantrip onto one of his rings so that he could activate the lesser ancible to give the party notice that he had stolen the diamond back and he needed their help straight away. They would obviously know which merchant’s house to head towards as they would have been there once already. He also asked Rioja to load a Magic Missile onto the wand Laerus had given him, so he had an extra sure fire shot in his arsenal for added protection.

Auction Day (Day 269)

After a hearty breakfast, Arken, Bardan and Rioja accompanied by the six guards Korum had booked for them, made their way to the market place for the auction. Knil made his way across the rooftops and set up a vigil overlooking the square. Korum watched the proceedings from the shadows, and as soon as the auction was concluded headed towards that merchant’s house and hid waiting for the party to arrive. The gem sold for a massive 87,000 Gold Pieces and would be sure to attract the attention of every would-be thief in the city. The party, plus their six guards and those provided by the buyer more than put off any straight forward attack. The deal took a short while to prove it was genuine on both sides with a bill of sale raised by the city to provide the assurance. The party and buyer then headed to the buyer’s house to conclude the deal.

Meanwhile, Korum had been watching the house and noticed that an upper storey window had been left open – unusual if the inhabitants were out. He then further noticed furtive movements within the upper chamber. He realised the occupant was a fellow thief, so he waited in the shadows to see what happened.

The party and buyer arrived and entered the building. Half an hour later, the party emerged with smiles on their faces, so Korum assumed the deal had been concluded and the monies paid. In keeping with the plan, the party did not return to their inn but made their way to a tavern local to the merchant’s house to await Korum’s signal.

Korum kept up his watch on the open window. Sure enough, after a couple more hours had passed, and dusk was settling in, a dark-dressed figure stealthily crawled out of the open window, across a roof and down a drain pipe. This was Korum’s cue to start following. He caught up with the figure in a dark alley a hundred yards away from the merchant’s house. He launched himself at the figure and attempted to pin the person down. The secretive figure turned out to be a human male with an aspect that marked him out as not being a normal citizen. The thief went for his dagger, but Korum was quicker. He grabbed the weapon from its sheath and threw it across the alleyway. The thief’s other hand was held in a vice-like grip, and after ejecting the weapon, Korum grabbed him by the throat. He asked where the diamond was but the thief denied all knowledge. Korum increased the pressure on the thief’s windpipe and the thief started to reach for something. Korum guided the hand to where it wanted to go; a satchel hidden beneath the burglar’s cloak. The thief opened his eyes in surprise and looked over Korum’s shoulder with intent. Korum wasn’t going to fall for that old trick so punched the thief. Unfortunately the immense strength given to him by the Girdle of Frost Giant’s Strength meant the thief’s head hit the cobbles too hard. Without waiting to look around, Korum snatched the satchel from the body and escaped into the shadows.

The ancible in Rioja’s hand began to flash so the party knew that Korum had completed his task. They made their way towards the merchant’s house, but a few streets before they got there a small fellow approached them directly and dropped a satchel at Bardan’s feet with a wink. Korum continued via a roundabout route to The Bandit’s Arms, arriving just after the party returned.

The Double-Cross

Korum made himself scarce again after telling the party what had happened. He said he would return in a few minutes as he had something to do before taking the gem for his reward at the Thieves Guild. He visited a local apothecary for a certain poison and its antidote, and applied the serum to the diamond and his hands appropriately.

He picked up the satchel containing the box with the diamond in it and took it to the Guild House. Again, he passed the security locks and questions with ease and was ushered into the Grand Master’s presence. He made sure that they were alone before telling the master that he had acquired the diamond as he said he would. The master was surprised and asked to see proof. Korum opened the box in a way to show that it wasn’t trapped and allowed the master to take a look for himself. The master asked to pick it up but Korum mentioned the little matter of a reward. The master pulled an elaborate box from under his desk and presented it to Korum. It was trapped but none of them had been set to go off, so he opened the box to reveal a beautiful short sword. Korum motioned that he be allowed to wield it to make sure it was a sword of great quality as the master suggested. Reluctantly the master agreed and Korum made sure he made no suspicious moves. Satisfied the sword was of great quality and most likely magical (it had a similar but better feel than his own magical sword) he handed it back. The master’s greedy eyes were now fixed upon the diamond, so Korum made a great show of taking the gem out of its box with his bare hands and passed it to the master thief’s bare hands. The contact poison was now on the master’s hands but wouldn’t affect him for about ten minutes. Korum added that in addition to the sword, he would also like immunity from Guild rules if he is ever back in town. It was agreed upon that he could only operate ‘within reason’. Korum shook hands with the master and left the way he came in. He made his way back to the run-down tavern by a circuitous route to throw off any potential pursuit and then a short while later during the early hours he headed back to The Bandit’s Arms.

The party were waiting for him to arrive and he told them the deal had been struck. The party had gained the sale value of the diamond which Korum said they could have so long as he could keep the sword which Rioja identified as a Short Sword of Quickness. The trade with the Guild meant that they had gained the sword from the thieves as well as the gem’s value. In addition, the party could not be implicated in the theft as they had cast iron alibis, with all evidence clearly implicating the Thieves’ Guild.

Korum told the party he would now make himself scarce as the Guild may be after him if his poisoning ploy had dispatched the master thief. He said he would meet the party at the hoar apple tree five miles outside of town the following afternoon.

The Aftermath (Day 270)

Korum spent the night wandering around the shadows of the city, keeping his eyes peeled in case of recriminations. As the light grew, he saw that some of those present at the Guild he’d noticed over the previous visits he had made there were wandering around nervously, asking furtive questions. He smiled to himself knowing that his plans to disrupt the guild had most likely come to fruition. The new master would thank him in the days to come but he had also made some new enemies.

To make things seem normal, the rest of the party divvied up the sale money and went on a spending spree. Bardan grabbed a beautiful suit of magical plate armour and a new Girdle of Giant Strength to match Korum’s. Arken also bought some magical armour, Rioja grabbed a couple of magical rings (invisibility and inaudibility), and Knil got himself a Bag of Holding. After dallying around for a while they finally collected their belongings from The Bandit’s Arms and headed out of the city to rendezvous with Korum as agreed.

The Return Home (Day 270- 286)

The journey home was uneventful. Tim greeted them warmly and showed what he had been up to. Everything was running smoothly, and a further 1,500 gold had been paid off of Arken’s debt to build his temple. Arken paid his respects to the temple in the local town and paid another large piece of the debt off in addition to that which Tim had paid.

He then prayed to his goddess for guidance on what she needed of them next.

Khorvaire Session 14 - 18/07/2012

Session 14: The Hawk (18^th July 2012)

The cast of heroes

Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party

Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscle
Knil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar

An Audience with Laerus (Day 242-243)

Rioja revisited Laerus to work through the more difficult parts of the plan to ensnare the Hawk. Between them they were able to analyse what was required to achieve their goal in imprisoning the liche within the orb. Laerus would create a one-use rod of power to cast the spell and be its major power source, although as it had never been practiced before, it may encounter some difficulties when used. Rioja was happy to accept this state of affairs as he trusted the judgement of the venerable mage. Rioja returned to his tower to prepare his spells for the next day and rested up.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party formulated their plans to combat the liche; to keep it busy whilst Rioja cast his spells and performed the ritual of entrapment. Re-reading the Gesta, they realised they would need to somehow trap it to the material plane and stop it from teleporting out. After thrashing about several ideas, it was deemed best if Korum hid under his Invisibility potion’s effects and back-stabbed the liche with a magical spear (attached to a strong rope and then a chain attached to a solid pillar or spiked to the floor) to impale it and prevent it from escaping; their notion being that if it was a Teleport spell that it used, it could not teleport with any heavy mass attached to itself.

Korum and Bardan headed into town to visit the merchant and managed to procure a basic magical spear, for a reasonable price. They returned to their village with Rioja when he was also on his homebound journey.

The entire party rested up, went over their plans again and allowed the two magic users to learn their spells.

Return to the Mausoleum (Day 244)

The following morning, the party awaited the cleric of Din to confirm that he had secured a portal to the marshy valley that contained the mausoleum. Arken finished his prayers, and a few moments later a portal opened within the ground floor of the tower. Korum stepped straight through, followed by Bardan who was weighed down with two large barrels of flaming lamp oil. Knil quickly stepped through, bow at the ready, and finally the two magic wielding adventurers. They had been transported directly outside the mausoleum, so would not have to traverse the marshlands again. Bardan and Korum made for the doors, to find them still open, and nothing could be seen within the chamber except the fallen trap-door opposite the entrance. The party advanced to the door, stepped through and followed the stairs down to the next level. The metal spiral staircase still creaked and squealed under their weight, but all members of the party made it down safely. The door at the bottom of the stairwell was still open, and the corridor of swinging blade traps was also just as they had left it – one blade was still stuck in the groove due to the large skeleton obstructing it, and the chalk marks on the floor demarcating the pressure pads were still there.

The party cautiously approached the antechamber, but it too was empty. Upon carefully entering the final chamber with the dais and altar, they found it too was left in the same way as before. The party thought that maybe it was too much too ask that the Hawk would be there, so decided to see if they could lure it to the chamber. Arken started to carve holy symbols of Din around the walls, set the chalice back onto the altar and began Blessing everything he could touch. In the meantime, Rioja cast a Strength spell onto Arken, Bardan and Korum, began to draw his magical circle upon the floor of the dais, and started to prepare himself for the coming ritual. Knil took up a flanking position as the last line of defence, and Bardan started to prepare himself for the forthcoming combat. Korum spiked the chain to the floor and uncoiled the rope attached to his new spear. He hid behind the dais, opposite the entrance, so he could be hidden from view if anything entered through that way. He put aside his invisibility potion in readiness.

Return of the Undead

After a short while, Arken’s blessings and prayers were answered. From along the trapped corridor, the party could hear the tramp of feet and the clink of mail. Bardan pushed one of his barrels of oil to just within the antechamber and laid a short trail of oil towards it as a fuse. He happened to glance up the corridor through the door opposite and noticed that the heavily armed skeletons were not setting off the traps. Arken Blessed the party and then cast one of his Dust Devil spells to slow them down, but it only survived long enough to slow the approaching cadavers a short while. However, this was long enough for the party to get into position for combat.

The skeleton warriors entered the antechamber just as Bardan lit the oil trail. After a short delay, the barrel ignited. A small whoomph sound was heard as the barrel split and spilt its contents. Bardan thought his ploy had failed, when suddenly the scattered oil ignited in a huge ball of flame. Two of the skeletons were incinerated instantaneously, one caught fire but the last one was undamaged. Bardan whooped for joy and prepared for combat. Arken rushed to the door, held aloft his holy symbol and rained holy words down upon the remaining skeletons. The skeletons were hurled off their feet and crumbled to dust upon impact with the floor. Arken yelled down the corridor, “Is that all you’ve got, Hawk?”

His shout was met with no response, so he returned to blessing the chamber. Bardan lined up his second barrel of oil, just in case. It wasn’t long before he espied another troop of skeletons approaching down the corridor. This time there were twice as many. In the same way, Bardan waited until the last second before lighting the fuse and the resulting explosion took out five of the skeletons. The remaining three continued their advance on the door of the ritual chamber. Arken returned to the door, holy symbol aloft, and two of the cadavers were reduced to piles of dust. The final skeleton managed to reach the door, but a trading of blows destroyed the skeleton. Arken was quickly healed by casting a few Cure spells upon himself.

Apart from the ringing in their ears, the dungeon went quiet again. Bardan had no more explosive oil available, so he prepared his magical axe and took another look down the corridor. It was empty. Suddenly there was a loud roar.

Within the ritual chamber, at four points on the floor equidistant between the altar and the corners of the room, showers of stone started to erupt. Rioja took this as his cue to complete the ritual up to the final power word. Korum swallowed his invisibility potion and the rest of the party prepared themselves for battle. Screams of pain and hisses of smoke boiled from the four points within the room but nothing seemed to enter.

A huge metallic crash sounded from up the corridor, and a massive cloud of dust billowed into the antechamber – the spiral staircase had been forced to collapse. Bardan closed the door to stop the bulk of the dust choking the party. All went quiet again for a short while before another huge roar erupted from up the corridor. Bardan opened the door to take a look, and Arken cast a Light spell to see through the dust and darkness. Within the dust he could make out a humanoid shape – another skeleton had arrived. This time it had no weapons or armour to speak of.

The skeleton advanced towards the antechamber but before it got to the door Knil fired his bow. His fear was evident as the bowstring slipped from its notch. Cursing his ill luck, he ducked back into the chamber to reseat it. Bardan stepped between his comrade and the skeleton and was hit by its powerful fist. Bardan returned the compliment, dealing out a blow that would have felled an ox, but the cadaver just ignored it. The powerful skeleton hit the fighter again with its fist and took him to within an inch of his life. Arken pulled his compatriot aside and administered a regenerative spell on him. Bardan again rejoined the fray but was severely injured again. Arken stepped into the breach and tried to dispel the evil, whilst Bardan took one of his Extra Healing potions. The skeleton just ignored the holy words and symbol and proceeded to pound the cleric with its fists. Arken was unable to retaliate so powerful were the blows. Bardan tried to re-enter the fray, but in his weakened state he was unable to swing his axe properly. Arken was hit once more by the skeleton and as its attention turned towards the exposed fighter, Arken dealt it a sore blow. Sick of taking such a pounding, and seeing his comrade in a bad way, Bardan dropped his axe, and relying on his Giant Strength bear hugged the undead being. This gave Arken the opportunity to smash off one of its arms and then a leg. Bardan let go of the damaged skeleton, picked up his axe, and together with Arken smashed it to pieces with a final blow each.

The Hawk Swoops in 

Just as Arken completed healing both himself and Bardan, a voice boomed out, “What are you doing here?” Arken responded “Converting this evil place to a temple of Din.” The voice continued, “Come out and fight me. Bardan, you have ruined my home, I will ruin yours”. To which Bardan replied “Go ahead, I was going to burn it down anyway.”

This conversation went on for a short while before Korum crept up to Bardan and whispered to him to play on the liche’s pride. Arken and Bardan started to taunt the liche when suddenly a surge of magical power was felt. The Hawk seemed to stagger backwards. It righted itself and approached the door again. Arken and Bardan were perplexed by this so asked the Hawk what had happened. It replied that it was going to enter the chamber and destroy the party but something had prevented it from doing so. Perhaps knowing that it could not enter the chamber to get at the party, the Hawk turned its back and made to leave. Korum was ready for this and, still invisible, thrust his spear at the liche’s back. The weapon passed straight through. Korum dropped the spear and tried again with his magical sword only to encounter the same effect. The Hawk laughed and told the Halfling only magical weapons may harm him. This confused Korum as both of the weapons were magical. He decided to punch the liche instead, but again his blow passed straight through it. The Hawk had had enough of the little pest, so returned a blow, sending the small thief flying backwards through the air to land half way across the ritual chamber floor.

The Hawk seemed annoyed now, and drew its sword stating that it would take on the fighter on his own to settle this once and for all. Arken said that he could do so only if he entered the chamber to fight, to which the Hawk agreed, but only if he was allowed to enter. Arken prayed to Din to ask her to let the liche in. The Hawk entered the chamber without encountering a barrier.

Korum, recovered from his blow, said that the fight should take place on the dais, and if either fighter left that arena, then the other would be free to execute him without fear of reprisal. The Hawk agreed to this, and so did Bardan, with a further proviso that no magical weapons were to be used. The two combatants approached the dais but Rioja refused to move (if he left the circle of power, the ritual would fail). Korum ran up the steps and pretended to remonstrate with Rioja, slowly forcing him towards the back of the dais. The Hawk seeing that the mage was being ushered away strode up the stairs and set a foot upon the dais where he was met with a wall of pain from the ritual circle of power. Rather than step back and risk default on the combat (combatants could not step off the dais as agreed), it carried on and Rioja waved his rod of power and unleashed the power of the ritual. Magical essence was drawn towards the circle, and all light within the chamber began to extinguish. The power built and a sphere of magic formed around the Hawk. Korum jumped for his life and Rioja uttered the final word of power and the sphere was slowly drawn into the orb that was set upon the dais. The orb began to glow a dark, menacing red but Rioja negated the glow by placing the orb within the magical urn that had once contained the troll’s heart. Normal light returned to the chamber slowly.

Arken conversed with his goddess and she confirmed that the Hawk was safely captured by the ritual. He then continued to complete the blessing of the chamber and the party made ready to leave. Just as they were about to step through the newly summoned portal, Rioja’s ancible began to flash; Laerus wanted to speak to him. Arken made a final sweep around the chamber, recovering the party’s possessions and followed the rest of his comrades through the glowing doorway.

The party arrived back in their tower. Arken made straight for his temple to replace the relics and the rest of the party headed into town to meet up with Laerus to see what he wanted. He seemed surprised at some of the things they described about the battle they had just fought and the Hawk’s abilities. He said that he would think on the implications and contact them with his findings. He handed Rioja another small marble mentioning that this one allowed them to actually communicate verbally over the link that was formed.

 

The party returned to their village for some well earned rest.

Khorvaire Session 13 - 11/07/12

Session 13: The Beast (11^th July 2012)

The cast of heroes

Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party

Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscle
Knil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar

Encounter with the Beast (Day 189, evening)

The party had settled into their ambush positions, and the sheep were put into their position as bait. Rioja made a final circuit of the defensive positions casting Strength on Arken, Barden and Korum – the members of the party who would be getting up close and personal with the entity known as The Beast. Rioja had been studying the old wizard’s books from his library and had come across a few old scrolls, much damaged, that gave them a few clues as to the two dragons’ backgrounds and traits.

Night had fallen and the moon had risen, bathing the glade in its wan light. The sheep started to bleat and shift nervously in Rioja’s direction; which was as planned. Across the meadow, the trees started to rustle and a huge misshapen bipedal being stamped its way into the clearing. It was a dark shape within an aura of darkness that seemed to follow and surround it.

Rioja knew that the Beast feared magic users, so he would have to be brave to face it down, giving enough time for his fellow adventurers to engage it in mortal combat. He cast a few minor cantrips to attract its attention and then, as it turned towards him and began to approach he hit it full on with a Fireball. This magical blast caught it in its great maw, massive pointed teeth shone against the glow from the blast. The Beast shook its head, let out a great roar and advanced on Rioja. That was the signal for the three combat ready adventurers to rush in.

Rioja cast a Polymorph Self and grew to double his height, whilst fractionally after he cast a set of Magic Missiles. Knil hit the Beast with two of his arsenal of magical arrows, which seemed to pass through the Beast, albeit damage to its aura was seen. Arken Blessed himself for extra combat resilience whilst Bardan and Korun rushed the Beast from the side and rear respectively.

Although not surprised into inaction, the Beast none-the-less was slowed enough by the party’s actions that they were able to reel off another series of attacks. More Magic Missiles and magical arrows hit the shadowy being just before Bardan and Korum were able to strike. Bardan had hurt it the most, so the Beast swung its dark talons and dealt him a mighty blow. Again, more magical blasts and arrows found their target and although Korum struck the Beast with all his enhanced Strength from behind causing enough damage to fell an elephant, the Beast merely shrugged it off and clobbered Korum to within an inch of his life. In fear of hitting his injured friend, Bardan dropped his axe.

Arken finally managed to enter the fray to deal extra damage with his magical mace whilst Bardan went to retrieve his weapon. Korum favoured his injured left side, and as a result missed his opportunity to attack. More magical missiles found their target, but Knil was becoming increasingly worried about firing into the melee in case he hit one of his compatriots. The Beast now realised his main enemy was the mage, who had been blasting him unerringly for minutes with many bolts of power. Ignoring the injured Halfling and the ineffectual warriors it lunged in the direction of Rioja.

The Beast managed to avoid being hit by the rest of the party and dealt its wrath upon the wizard. Rioja seemed to shrug off the wound, but a squeal of pain was heard from Kima, his black cat familiar. A final Magic Missile from Rioja’s arsenal slowed the Beast enough for Korum to gather his wits enough to strike at a vulnerable point. Dealing a blow that would have felled a Titan, Korum felt his whole arm numb with shock as he struck the Beast’s vital spot. The darkness felll in upon itself and then exploded in a massive blast of magical power, bowling over all those in the glade including the terrified sheep that were some distance away. The townsfolk of Kakariko later told of the thunderous blast upon the party’s return to town.

Arken was the first to his feet, so he examined the blast area. Thinking about the binding spell which kept Aphyros bound within the orb, he scooped up some of the earth that contained the diminishing magical essence of the Beast for later use. He then prayed to his goddess for guidance on what they should do next. She informed him that his duties were completed when the party released the good dragon from the orb, but was impressed with his devotion to the cause when he mentioned that he and the party would carry on and help with the quest to bring about the downfall of Nephyros, the evil dragon. Din managed to ask one favour and that was to know if the Beast was truly gone. Cryptically his deity mentioned to look to its footprints for the answer. From this he concluded that the party had truly defeated the Beast.

After the commune with his deity, Arken healed those who were worst afflicted in the battle. The party then returned the sheep to the farmer in return for their 20 gold piece deposit, and headed back to the main town of Kakariko where they boasted of their victory in return for much free food and ale.

Return to the Village of Gerudos (Day 192-236)

The party spent a couple of days celebrating their victory and recovering from the rest of their wounds before heading back to their base in the south. They travelled by night whilst Rioja rested, and rested by day whilst Rioja studied with his familiar standing watch. Even though they wished to attract the attention of the Darkness, it never returned during their entire journey. They must have hurt Nephyros if he wouldn’t retaliate so soon; perhaps the scrolls were right that when any of his three aspects are defeated, it would take some time for him to re-gather his strength.

Upon their return, they noticed that all of the building work had been completed to their satisfaction and Tim, the steward, was running the settlement in a very efficient manner; they had started to actually make a little money selling their goods (wood, animal skins and furs, some early crops and merchants’ fees for renting their stalls and shops in the guildhall and market place), enough to pay off 1000gp of Arken’s debt. The militia had been trained in the efficient use of the ballistae and had formed a tight unit of men-at-arms. They still had some training to do, and new recruits were coming in each day to swell their ranks.

Barden and Knil went looking for more magical items to boost their arsenal. Barden had seen how effective Korum’s Girdle of Giant Strength was, so managed to pick one up himself, albeit of not the same fine quality as Korum’s. Knil also managed to acquire more magical arrows, of a better quality than his previous ones, but had a run in with the merchant selling them. He was over charging the party on the goods he was selling and Rioja had found him out. He promised to behave better in future on threat of the party going to the mayor.

Meanwhile, Korum visited the local Thieves’ Guild to introduce himself and passed their entry lock test with flying colours. He mentioned what he was aiming to achieve with his new tavern set up in Gerudos, and they promised to send him a few informants to aid in expanding their communications network. He should expect to see one or two mendicants, a stable boy, and a couple of working girls arrive over the next few days. The Guild would exchange information and favours with Korum’s set up in return for a small monthly fee and a reciprocal exchange of knowledge.

Rioja left the merchant’s establishment to track down the local wizard. He was welcomed in warmly and after exchanging pleasantries, the two mages set their heads together to work out their next moves. Rioja had previously asked Arken if it was alright to part with their hard won knowledge of the Nephyros versus Aphyros situation, and he agreed he could do so if he trusted the mage. Their aim was to replicate the entrapment spell used on Aphyros when he entered the orb, only with the target this time being Nephyros, the evil dragon. Whilst the two conjurers worked on the ritual, they had a little time to develop further a small ancible device that could be used to contact each other over distance. They would not be able to actually communicate over the devices (two small marbles, one would glow in opposition if a cantrip was cast upon the other), but it would alert the other that they needed to communicate. Some other spell could be used for that communication.

A New Quest (Day 242)

The two wizards were good to their word and, after much research within the tomes they had both acquired over their years of study and adventuring, they were able to work out the next move. The Hawk (the liche that had poisoned Din’s chalice) had to be faced again on its home ground, because within that valley was a circle of power that was needed to defeat that aspect of Nephyros. Korum had also been thinking on the nature of the diamond and its box; it seemed that the area of its effect closely resembled what would be expected of just such a circle of power.

The next phase of their quest settled, the party prepared to travel back to the swamp to face down the Hawk; the second aspect on Nephyros.

The Gesta Kalamosia

Rioja, always one for picking up dusty old tomes wherever he travels, showed this one to those of the party that could read. It is an ancient tome that references an even older set of volumes on the history of the struggles between light and darkness.

(words on the jpgs written by Craig (the DM) - Photoshopping of pages by me)

The parchment of the tome was nigh on falling to pieces, and the text was very difficult to read, but it did render up many clues as to the nature of their enemy Nephyros.

Khorvaire Session 12 - 04/06/12

Session 12: A Stronghold is Constructed (4^th July 2012)

 

The cast of heroes

Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party

Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscle
Knil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar

The Journey Home (Days 89-134)

Korum spent the best part of the day searching the wizard’s keep for further hidden doors and treasure but was unable to find anything of interest. Meanwhile, Arken collected up the fragments of the orb and placed them into a bag for later use. Rioja continued studying the scrolls and tomes within the wizard’s library and managed to find out exactly how the golem worked. He instructed it to follow the party and guard them against harm. The rest of the party headed into Kakariko, the town local to the tower, to collect supplies for the homeward journey.

The adventurers arrived back at their stronghold in the south just over six weeks later. On their journey they encountered no major problems and the Darkness had not returned to haunt them. As they rode up to the environs of the tower, they saw that the workmen had done a good job of clearing their entire fief of blasted wood, making the two piles requested – firewood and good building timber. Other than the bare earth, only Rioja’s tower, Arken’s Temple of Din and Knil’s tree were left standing.

Preparations for Construction (Days 135-142)

The party rested up for the rest of that day and made plans on what they would like their newly acquired plot to contain. Rioja had his tower, Arken his temple and Knil had his tree, but the defences against mundane enemies were lacking, as was a suitable trading establishment or two. There was also the issue of the evil dragon to contend with, so defences against that enemy would also need to be considered.

 

Rioja wanted to fulfil the promise of restoring much of the blasted forest to its former glory, so headed into town to seek the wizard’s aid. He had acquired the learning of the Miracle Growth spell and wanted to share his findings, so that both wizards could repair the damage done. The two sages set to work repairing some of the damage to the area outside the party’s zone of control, replacing the forest as if it had never been harmed in the first place.

Bardan, tasked with security, was sent into town to recruit some men-at-arms and enquire after a weapons smith who could build watch towers, ballistae and catapults. As the new recruits filed into the vicinity over the next few days, they were drilled in low level hand-to-hand combat. The weapon smith arrived with a crew of carpenters and set about building a barracks for the newly acquired men-at-arms, four watch towers on the perimeter of the area that was slowly being built up and a ballista to go in each, as well as two spares.

Korum, whose only real interests were money and food decided to get the plans together for a large tavern, brewery and stables so that he could start up an establishment to cater for weary travellers. He had a variety of workmen brought in to begin work on the stone foundations.

Knil had disappeared throughout most of this week to seek solace with the sacred tree, and ask its permission to build a dwelling within its branches. The magical nature of the tree, however, meant that it would grow a suitable dwelling for him to live in.

As they also wanted the stronghold to be relatively self-sufficient, the party headed into town to see if any merchants would like to set up at their rapidly growing establishment, and they had not a few takers. They also managed to persuade a few farmers and foresters to join their community to provide food and other sellable commodities. This led to requests to build a new guildhall beside the tavern – which were granted.

Whilst all of this building work and recruitment was going on, Arken was also busy readying his temple for a new congregation of worshippers. He asked Rioja to repair the dragon orb just in case the good dragon needed somewhere to hide again, which he did do, but as a few pieces of crystal were not recoverable, there were a few small nicks and holes in it, but structurally it was as sound as it ever was. This was placed in a niche of importance. He also placed the Chalice of Din onto the main altar, but made sure he protected it with a variety of glyphs and warnings (the first warning set off a paralysing glyph, the second blindness, and the third a bolt from the gods).

A Visit from the Mayor (Day 143)

During the morning, the Mayor from the local town turned up to see how far the work had progressed. He was given a guided tour of the facilities, and expressed his highest admiration for the work being carried out. The forest was being grown back rapidly by the two wizards, the farmers and foresters were tending the crops and animals and the small militia force was now able to hold their spears properly. The tavern, guildhall, barracks and watch towers were all starting to show promise (although it would be a few months before any of them were completed), and a few curious travellers pitched their tents and caravans on the fields opposite the main settlement and started to trade.

The mayor could see things would be prosperous for this little settlement and wanted to be a part of it. He suggested that he could send over a squad of well trained men-at-arms to help with training the militia and showing them how to work the ballistae until the force was up to strength and sufficiently trained. The party also asked him to recommend a steward to help them with running the place, especially for when they were away. He agreed to send a highly ambitious young steward over right away; he had been tasked with the redevelopment of the southern part of the town and had done an extremely good job.

Just as he was about to leave, his true intentions came to the fore when he asked about taxation and trade with the main town. The party agreed to his terms that they would pay taxes at the same rate as everyone else trading in the town. This seemed to cheer the little fellow up and he returned to his gig in high spirits, wishing the party well in all their ventures.

A New Journey is Planned (Day 144)

Good to his word, the mayor sent a squad of well trained men-at-arms and the steward the following day. The troops immediately set about pitching their tents and ribbing the raw recruits about their techniques of warfare. The steward, Tim, was all he was cracked up to be, and the party hired him on for a trial period to see how he managed.

Arken, meanwhile, had been in close talks with his goddess, who told him a little more about their quest. The evil dragon Nepheros, as they were well aware, had created three aspects of himself to help in his conquests; the Spirit (which indeed was the Darkness), the Hawk (the liche the party had defeated in gaining the chalice) and the Beast (which turned out to be a creature Arken and Bardan had encountered before the rest of the party joined them). But, he was also told that there was a fourth power now arising – perhaps it was the great dragon himself?

Arken relayed all of these details to the rest of the band and they immediately set themselves to preparing for another journey back to the north. Supplies were bought and instructions given to the steward about how they would like the place run in their absence – this would be a true test of Tim’s capabilities.

Show me the Way to Kakariko (Days 145-189)

The journey north again proved to be uneventful. In fact, things had actually improved as the streams of refugees had stopped and many people they spoke to said that the threat they had faced weeks before had ceased; the great lords of the north must have sent troops out to crush the bandits in their lairs. The party nodded sagely and thanked the people for their gossip.

However, upon arrival at Kakariko a different sentiment greeted them. Although the raids that damaged property and killed people who were out at night seemed to have ceased, the Beast had returned to terrorise their livestock.

Arken and Bardan knew exactly where the Beast’s lair was, so they led the party through the forest to the north-west of the town. They found the cave down a narrow defile but things seemed quiet within. Korum crept inside to take a look but found no traces of recent occupation; the only thing he found unusual was a rectangular indentation in the earth floor. Arken told him that that was where they had found the chest that contained the dragon orb. Retracing their steps, they headed back to town to find out what was happening.

They arrived at their usual tavern and spoke to the barkeep, who pointed them in the direction of a few farmers who had been sorely hit by the night time raids on their flocks. Loosening their tongues with a little alcohol, the farmers told their stories. One had been raided three nights ago and the other only the previous night. All of their stock had been slaughtered. Even the usual goblin raids had ceased. The last of the group said that he still had his full flock, but that was probably because he brought them into the barn every night since the raids had started. After the promise of full recompense, he agreed to allow the party to use a few dozen of his flock to lure the Beast into a trap.

 

That afternoon, the party journeyed out to the farmer’s lands and started to make preparations for the night’s ambush.

Khorvaire Session 11 - 28/06/12

Session 11: The Dragon (27^th June 2012)

The cast of heroes

Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party

Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscle
Knil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar

Davon laid to Rest (days 43-45)

The party did not take the time to rest but headed straight into town to carry out Davon’s final wishes. Arken made the final arrangements at the Temple whilst the rest of the party made off to carry out re-provisioning themselves for the forthcoming journey ahead. Once they had finished purchasing the items that they required, the party returned to the tower, only to find that Arken still had not joined them.

The following morning Arken, after having spent the night in town, returned to the party to tell them his news. He had purchased the tower, in the name of Gerudos (apparently a name his aunt Zelda used to call him when he was a lad), and all the lands within a one mile radius for the princely sum of one gold coin. This deal did come with a few catches however; the forest had to be returned to as near its former state as possible but it took into account that the adventurers could build upon it; trade in town should not be affected by any premises set up on this land or a tax would be levied to compensate for loss of earnings. He had also put in plans to build a new temple to Din upon this land, for which he paid a high price in terms of usury; 10,000 gold pieces at a rate of ten per cent per annum for the first year and twenty per cent per year after on the original sum lent if not paid back on time.

Later that afternoon, a short wizened old man arrived at the tower. Rioja invited him in and directed him to Arken, who proceeded to discuss plans for the building of the new temple. A few hours later a group of Dwarf engineers and masons arrived to start work on shaping the stone for the temple. A party of woodcutters and workmen arrived just after to start on clearing the dead woodlands in the vicinity. They were told not to chop down Knil’s tree but all other woodland was to be cleared back to bare earth and the recovered wood was to be divided into a wood burning pile and a sawn and treated lumber pile for building work. This work would take the workers about eight weeks in total and they would charge 1000 gold pieces plus a share of the shaped lumber. A deal was agreed to this effect.

The Next Town (Day 73)

The party rested again overnight and then set out on their journey to visit the wizard who had originally hired them for the quest the following morning. They journeyed via the local town so that they could purchase a couple more riding animals; a pony for Korum and a warhorse for Bardan. The rest would travel in the wagon with the spare weapons and supplies.

The journey to the next major town was uneventful. It took four weeks of travel along the highways and major road networks. The weather was good and there was no sign of the Darkness.

Upon arrival at the town of Araj, they found there was a lot of work going on. Walls were being repaired and those made of wood were being rebuilt in stone. The guard house at the gate was fully manned, although they were allowed to pass straight through without any checks. Upon querying the work with the guards, they were told that there were disturbances to the east and many refugees were pouring into the town. The party were unable to get a description of the trouble other than that it may have been a large group of bandits.

Passing through the gates, the adventurers pulled up the first tavern they came to; the Sword and Cheese. There was another, better kept inn across the road but they were put off by its name; the Shield and Milk!

The Sword turned out to be a very large tavern with a good choice of food and drink. Bardan and Korum leapt straight in, but Arken was a little more talkative. He managed to find out that there were two refugees in the tavern who had come from the east. The barkeep pointed him in the direction of two young lads in a dark corner nursing two very small beers. Korum, over hearing the conversation between Arken and the barkeep, walked over to the boys’ table and topped their beakers up without asking. The rest of the party followed and were able to find out that the boys’ village had been attacked during the night over a period of a couple of days by what seemed like bandits because of all the noise and destruction they beheld each morning. However, nothing was ever taken and they were unable to say if there were any tracks left by the attackers as their village elders had sent them west to keep them safe.

The party decided to spend the night at The Sword, during which Rioja was able to study the diamond and chest in more detail. He confirmed that it still had magical traces about it but the magic would only activate in a certain area (the swamp).

Final Destination (Day 74-88)

Arken spent the night at the Temple of Din within the town of Araj but was late in meeting with the others before they left to continue their journey. As he was the highest ranked priest in the vicinity he had been asked to take morning prayers!

The journey to the town where the wizard lived took only a further two weeks instead of the usual three weeks it normally would have taken. The roads were empty except for a few people scurrying quickly away eastwards, so the going was good and the inns along the way provided good rooms and service to the party so they could rest better than if they were forced to sleep in the common rooms. All of the refugees they met told the same story; something was attacking their farmsteads and villages by night, causing lots of damage and not a few deaths.

When they arrived on the outskirts of the town, they noticed that it too was re-fortifying its walls and there was a large, armed presence all about. The party made their way into the town and headed straight to the nearest busy tavern to pick up on the news.

The barkeep recognised Arken and Bardan straight away, but raised an eyebrow at the appearance of the rest of the party. Arken quickly explained that these were now their fellow adventurers on the quest that the wizard had given them. The barkeep was satisfied with the explanation and gave the party free drinks and food whilst he updated them with the news from the east. Korum sorted out stabling for the horses and wagon and heartily partook of the free meals.

Arken, meanwhile, headed to the nearest Temple. It turned out that he was the only Priest of Din left in the town and the priests had made off with the takings in the collection box too! Whilst he was alone in the temple, the orb started to glow red, a colour it had never glowed before. Something made him step outside of the temple and look at the sky; there was a large patch of Darkness centred over a spot a few miles away, in the direction of the wizard’s keep where the whole journey had begun. He hastily made his way back to the tavern to update the party.

The Wizard’s Keep (Day 88 continued)

Time was getting on now, so the party made haste to the keep. The Darkness was about a mile across and centred over where the wizard’s abode was situated. The forest they had to travel through was thick and it hindered their progress sufficiently that it was nearly nightfall when the party arrived at the edge of the Darkness.

The adventurers pulled out their usual array of torches, lanterns and model unicorns with Continual Light cast upon them to give them some protection against the deep gloom. To check the strength of their old enemy, Bardan threw one of his Fire Bombs into the depths of the darkness. It exploded, forcing the Darkness back, but once the flames had diminished, it moved back to occupy the place it had been evicted from. The party reckoned they could get to the keep and still keep the Darkness at bay if they used all of their light sources and their newly acquired cache of magical weapons, which were known to at least cause it some anguish in the past.

The party pushed on into the Darkness in a tight formation, occasionally hitting out with their magical weapons. As they moved through, the Darkness parted before them but rapidly closed in behind them again. The Darkness began to form the shapes and outlines of beings again; it was obviously getting stronger and night was about to fall.

After a short time, the party emerged from the Darkness into an area that was not affected by it; rather like the eye of a storm centred over the keep. Off in the distance, behind the keep walls, they heard a mighty clang as if a large metal object had just collapsed. They raced towards the keep only to find the main gates locked. Without waiting for Korum to pick the locks, Bardan crashed them open with his mighty boot and the party followed him through into the courtyard. The Darkness had somehow got into the castle and filled most of the courtyard.

Forming a tight wedge, the party fought their way through the blackness towards the actual keep door. Each step they took was an ordeal with the shapes moving within the Darkness forming up and striking at the party. The party struck back causing many of the shapes to lose cohesiveness but they quickly reformed. The orb was used to aid in their fight, with the Darkness pulling back with a hiss, but reforming rapidly when the party had moved on. After a few minutes of desperate struggle, they passed the source of the metallic crash; the wizard’s Iron Golem had succumbed to the Darkness and fallen just outside the door of the inner keep. Their light sources had started to dim and the torches were no longer able to be relit. A few more hard fought steps had them arrive at the door, but it was locked. Korum could not force the lock so Bardan attempted to kick it down. He was unable to. Korum, remembering one of the magical items he had bought back in their local town was still around his waist, summoned up his strength and kicked the door. It burst asunder from its hinges. Those Giants sure were strong.

The party hurried into the brightly lit interior and quickly made their way down the only corridor to the door at the far end. It was locked. Arken knocked on the door, identifying himself and calling out the wizard’s name. It was swiftly opened. The party were ushered into a small study and the door was rapidly closed behind them, but not before the last to enter noticed that the torches at the far end of the corridor were starting to go out one-by-one.

Breathing a sigh of relief for the temporary reprieve, the party took a rest. Arken, however, rummaged in his backpack and produced the unicorn horn, the urn containing the troll’s heart, the chalice and the dragon orb. He handed them over to the wizard one at a time, but when the wizard’s hand closed around the chalice, he dropped it in disgust. It had been tainted. Black veins of writhing power could be seen all over the outer surface. He said that he must get on with the ritual straight away, although he was afraid that the party were too late, especially as the chalice was corrupted. Arken tried to Dispel Magic, but his spell did not work. The light from the corridor that was entering from under the door snuffed out. The Darkness was directly outside the room now.

The Ritual

The wizard stepped up to his bookshelf and pulled a particular tome from the shelf just enough to trigger the switch in the floor holding the desk in place. He swung the desk out of the way and pulled open the trap-door revealed beneath. He quickly ushered the party down through the door before closing it firmly behind them. The small room beneath the trap-door was just big enough to hold the circle of power drawn on the floor and a few items of ritualistic paraphernalia.

Arken took himself to one corner with the dragon orb and chalice to converse with his goddess. After a short period of preparation, the wizard stated he was ready to start his incantations but Arken still struggled in the corner trying to force the orb surrounded by an intense bright white light and the chalice surrounded by a pulsing halo of darkness together.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash and Arken fell to the floor, dropping the orb and chalice from his hands. The black veins of power that were threaded throughout the surface of the chalice were now gone. Korum picked the items up and handed them to the wizard so that he could begin his ritual and the rest of the party tended to Arken. Light began to pulse within the confines of the inscribed circle upon the floor, gradually obscuring the wizard within.

Rioja managed to force his three potions of Healing between Arken’s lips and the cleric slowly started to come to; he had been on the point of death.

The pulsing light from within the circle rapidly increased in intensity until it suddenly winked out and a massive out-rush of air knocked everyone to the floor. The pulsating light had gone leaving the shrivelled shell of the wizard upon the floor; aged beyond the aeons of eternity.

The Light of Day (Day 89)

Korum slowly pulled himself to his feet. The wizard was obviously dead, but it sounded like he had achieved his purpose; the battering on the trap door above had stopped and a calmness had descended upon the keep. He pushed open the trap door and climbed up into the study devastated by high winds and awesome dark power. He rushed along the corridor and took a look outside. The Darkness had gone but there was something else in the sky. For the briefest of instants he saw the shape of a gleaming, bright dragon dip below the horizon just as the sun broke free of the tree-tops ushering in a new dawn.

Arken, recovered from his ordeal, took up the orb and threw it at the wall of the ritual room. It shattered into a thousand pieces. The magic had worked.

The rest of the party pulled themselves from their reveries and slowly made their way out into the courtyard. Bardan joined Korum who was busily picking up the pieces of the Iron Golem. He mentioned it would make a great guardian for their home tower if only they could get it working again. He was aware that they needed a special incantation written down on a piece of paper inserted into its head or breast. He put his hands into all the rents in the metal carapace and found what he was looking for. Unfortunately he could not read it, so he passed it to Rioja, who quickly grabbed it and returned to the wizard’s study in order to decipher it. He grabbed a few relevant books from off of the shelves and started to read, nodding sagely to himself as things started to make sense. They would have a new guardian for their stronghold in the south.