Diamond Sky - Session 5 (02/09/15)

There has been a bit of disruption to the campaign over the last few weeks due to holidays, illness, work and what-not. Last week the players of Skins and Zook played an explore the city style session. However, this week saw four players turn up for a recap session in order to catch up with Skins and Zook.

Karik (Half-elf) - Sorceror
Rhogar (Dragonborn) - Warlock
Salderban (Human) - Paladin (absent)
Skins (Kobold) - Barbarian
Torric (Human) - Bard
Zook (Gnome) - Ranger (absent)

Karik wandered down to the pool and watched the lepers whilst they bathed. On closer inspection he noticed that they were not actual lepers but were malnourished and covered in sores which they tried to wash away in the waters by the Forbidden Gate. One particular member of the band of outcasts took a shine to Karik and spoke to him at length. He invited him into the healing waters, and became the first person to see the albino half-elf without his all covering outfits. Karik asked whether anyone ever passed through the gates and he was told that only criminals took the one-way trip beyond. However, with special permission from the council others occasionally passed through the portals. A recent investigation by the Templars found out something very important; an internal job. Karik thanked the leper, got dressed and left a small pile of coins for the information.

Rhogar, in the meantime, made his way to the magicians' guild where he met with a tiefling wizard. Torric visited the bards' college to gather more information and then wandered around the markets where he picked up some clothing for the ex-slaves back on the ship. When Karik began his conversation with the lepers, Salderban left the Forbidden Gate in search of the temple of the Ancients.

Whilst everyone was about their investigations, a golden sphere visited them all no matter where they were and requested their presence at Arya's Hope in the Hall of Triumph.

It took a while, but all the party eventually turned up where the golden domes requested. As the party arrived they sat at the same table with a high born noble named Daowin, a Shadow Guard of Methredel (a high-ranking Templar), who asked them to partake in a mission for the city. They were to find three missing mages last seen headed towards Magnaroc. The party admitted that they had already met with and subsequently dispatched Orsini and Veross, so only one needed to be found. Daowin suggested that the renowned pirate queen Pascha Kale, recently released from the dungeons, may hold some information. She was the captain of an unruly ship currently docked in Wasters Bay, and used to be a pit fighter, so she was very handy with a knife and good in a fight. Daowin stood up after passing on the information and request, but as he bid Torric adieu he cast a small rune on the back of his hand that would show him to be on official business.

The party retired to a local tavern that Skins had visited previously and called in on her local snoop Sticks. He greeted her warmly but was reticent with what he said until the gold began to flow. The party found out that Pascha Kale was a very dangerous individual but was indeed down at the docks. She had a good trade going in illegal drugs from Oslo with Severus Dune's eldest son.

After the final encounter of the day, the party returned to the skyship via the market and mage's guild (where Karik got the rings he had taken from Veross's fingers identified and realised that one in particular was worth a small fortune). They found that Arathea had tidied the place up and made it more habitable for humanoids and Okzar had made the working areas spotless. The ex-slaves wanted to leave but, after being told the fate of slaves and ex-slaves in this city, they decided they would stay on board until the characters had finished their quest and would then be dropped off wherever they wished.

The following morning the tax collector arrived at the docks with many men-at-arms and suggested that their presence was required by the High Council. He led the party and Arathea on a circuitous route and stopped halfway down an alleyway where the party was confronted by five dwarfs who demanded to see the owner of the skyship. Vedrick, the leader of the dwarfs and king of Greymount was taken aback when the party say that they owned it under the auspices of Okzar of Magnaroc. The rest of the dwarfs postrated themselves upon the ground.

As an honour the party invited the dwarfs on board to meet with Okzar whom they revered almost as a god - Magnaroc is a dwarf legend. The rest of the afternnon was taken up with feasting and drinking from magically refilling horns and mugs, but after a while the dwarfs had outstayed their welcome and were hustled off the ship with a promise that they could come back soon.

The party secured the skyship and headed to Wasters' Bay where they found the ship that they were looking for. They espied a woman covered in piercings with a hook for a hand giving the orders. Skins approached her to make friends but she was turned away in no uncertain terms. Seeing that the friendly approach had not worked, Rhogar moved in with a menacing air but this time the pirate queen was moved to listen, but decided she would only listen to them if Torric could sing her a song of the party's renown. He did so with flair and enthusiasm.

Pascha was so impressed that she was forthcoming with much information including the names of the noble houses that Dune was dealing with:
Regan (tied to the academy of warriors)
Serath (accused of witching and dark magic, but none of the charges stuck)
Varso (a long line of defectors to the elves)
Dune (reside outside Methredel as diplomats to the elves)
Malthor, Veross and Orsini (triumvirate of missing mages who know most about ancient history and the Diamond Sky. They are all keepers of knowledge but they disappeard about a year ago on a mission for the council).
There is a need for the drug Snuff Dust for the God of the Open Hand.

The party left Pascha with the promise that they could return the following day before dawn.

Karik returned to see his leper friends where he found out that they were worshippers of the Truth of Open Hand. The member of this sect accept The One Truth; they do not lie and tell no false truths. Karik, intrigued, became an initiate of the cult.

Torric, meanwhile, managed to get an audition at the Bards' Guild as a precursor to being able to perform at the Aer Dominicum. However, he needed to get everyone in on the act so that all could be admitted to the high council. The rest of the party decided to join in and gave a great performance but Arathea, troubled by a bunch of hecklers spoiled the show by attacking them. A bar-room brawl erupted and fists and bar stools flew everywhere. Skins loved being in the thick of it until the eldritch wizardry of Rhogar brought it to an end with the death of one of the crowd. Karik swiftly made an exit with Arathea, and Torric grabbed Skins and drew her aside whilst the guard arrived and arrested Rhogar.

Diamond Sky - Session 4 (12/08/15)

This week saw the return of the original paladin player, bringing the party back to its full original strength.

Karik (?) - Sorceror
Rhogar (Dragonborn) - Warlock
Salderban (Human) - Paladin
Skins (Kobold) - Barbarian
Torric (Human) - Bard
Zook (Gnome) - Ranger

Skins and Salderban led the way back into the main chamber and made straight for the walkway and exit to the skyship. Whilst Torric and Karik rounded up the remainder of the old elf's now ex-slaves the two giant constructs carried Okzar's body and guarded the party's retreat. The paladin and barbarian worked out how to operate the elevation device and so the party came face-to-face with the skyship that would get them off the Magnaroc.

The huge hangar opened out before them and the natural rock shelf led the adventurers to a ramp and onto the flying machine. The party rapidly advanced into the hold wherein they met with captain Harlott, his last remaining crewman and the rest of the ex-slaves from the Caraway. After a brief reunion and introductions the party went their separate ways throughout the ship.

Whilst Zook stayed within the forge and Skins made herself busy in the armoury the rest of the party either hunkered down for a rest or made their way to the bridge. The shaking from the erupting volcano spurred those making their way to the bridge into more haste and so they followed the plan that Karik had secured previously to ease their way.

Whilst they passed what turned out to be the power plant room they spotted behind thick glass, through a small port-hole, a solid flame being fed by blocks of jet. Karik read up on this and how it was used to propel the ship. He was dragged up to the bridge and when there he made his way straight to the only seat available. He sat in the command chair and realised through a trick of design that he had an almost 360 degree view around the ship. He realised he could control many other things from the command chair and so pulled the lever to close the loading bay ramp. He fired up the engines and more through luck than judgement glided the powerful skyship out of its birth and into the open sky.

During the next few hours, whilst the others explored the ship and rested, Karik got to learn how to pilot the advanced skyship. A few of his manoeuvres, however, did not go down well as he only very narrowly avoided some of the floating rocks and made rather too many tight turns for his companions' liking.

Salderban and Torric were able to work out that the ship was surrounded by some kind of magical force shield that stopped the crew from being battered by the elements and also allowed the ship to glide smoothly through the air. This smooth running, along with the powerful engine, meant that the skyship could travel at least three or four times faster than the fastest of sky frigates.

Whilst the party travelled through the air at unbelievable speeds, the tasks that everyone set themselves slowly came to fuition. Everybody healed from their encounters on Magnaroc, Zook began work on forging his own weaponry and Skins, messing around with the forge fire and Okzar, managed to bring the construct to halting life; but he could only sport a small beard and short crop of flame hair. The look on his face as he entered the bridge conveyed pride in his ship and happiness that the party had figured out how to pilot the flying machine.

After many hours of travel, the lookout spotted a small floating island settlement. It turned out to be a small trading settlement with many strange ships docked. The ships were identified as water gatherers; this trading settlement gathered cloud water to barter for trade goods and victuals.

The great skyship docked beside the water gatherers and the ramp was lowered. The party strode down the ramp, leaving Zook, the two fire giants and ex-slaves as guards, to be met by Elissa, an elf ranger, and her militia. The welcome party was overawed by the appearance of the adventurers, their ship and the fire giants in the hold, but held their nerve enough to escort the party to the local tavern, The Broken Drum.

The vista from the veranda of the inn was breathtaking. A grand man-made lake shone with light from the setting sun. The party put themselves at ease and caroused the night away, telling their tales of derring do to a captive audience.

The following morning, the adventurers went to the various traders and re-supplied the ship with food, drink and sleeping materials; the ship was not designed for a humanoid crew, only constructs. Elissa put her case forward for joining up with the crew on their onward journey, but the adventurers did not trust her fully and decided to go their own way. Much to her chagrin, Elissa bade the strange crew goodbye and waved them off on their journey.

After a three day flight, the skyship crew finally espied their original destination - Methredhel. The grand capital city of spires, towers and elegant stone buildings glowed in the sunlight; a truly magnificent sight. Karik steered the skyship towards the main docks. On the way in, the great ship was guided past a great carved statue of a Platinum Dragon and the Aerodrome (an outlying rock where aerosports appeared to be played). Skins saw the young people dive from a platform, plunge helter-skelter towards the clouds below and then float back to their starting point with a tail of fire. She thought this was some kind of magic so plunged over the side to see what would happen. She did not realise that each person was equipped with a jet pack on their backs and plunged ot the abyss below. Luckily she was spotted by a flier, Ace Cloud Diver, who caught her and returned her safely back on board the skyship.

After the ship had docked and the ramp lowered, the party disembarked only to be greeted by an official and his well-drilled men-at-arms. They were quickly intimidated by Zook, the fire giants and the size of the ship. What should have been a tax-taking exercise and a laying down of the law turned out to be a nervous welcome and an invite to explore the grand city.

The party split to explore the various areas of the city that interested them, and the reason they were headed to Methredhel in the forst place. Arathea, the rescued half-elf, explained that she was taken as a slave as a young girl and kept in the Aer Dominicum where the High Council abide.

Zook headed to The Burrows to look for his loved one. Skins went down to Hang Town, the seedy downtown area of Methredhel, where she was mobbed by kobolds upon her arrival. Torric, Rhoghar and Arathea made their way to the main town where they managed to sell some of the loot found in Magnaroc to buy some decent weaponry, armour and clothing for all. Karik and Salderban descended to the Forbidden Gate where they met with two suits of magical armour that guarded the way in. Hidden in the shadows, following their every move, they spotted Ace Cloud Diver.

LotR Battle Report : Rohan vs Orcs

The two boys were at a loose end yesterday evening and they asked me if I would referee "the board game" as they put it. I said that I would but as time was getting on we would run the game a little differently to the usual line 'em up and charge, with the winner being the one who broke last, type of scenario. This time I decided to drop a few of the advanced rules I had introduced in the last couple of games (regarding leaders and break points) but introduce the concept of victory by objective. So, I set up a little scenario for them to play out.

Barn Busters - an orcs versus Rohan mini scenario:

A small band of Rohan warriors found out from a local shepherd that there was a very important, but sickly Orc chieftain holed up in a small barn by the local river. They were told that he only had a small body guard with him, so they decided if numbers were fairly equal then they would trust to chance and try to eliminate the chieftain thus making a telling blow agianst their enemy.

Rohan objective - get two warriors into the barn to kill the orc chieftain
Orc objective - stop the Rohan warriors from entering the barn and/or reduce the Rohan force by 50% (4 troops)

The orcs were to set up around the barn and Rohan would set up on the left side of the board. To kill the chieftain the Rohan warriors (at least two of them) had to get to the barn, stay there one turn (to open the door) and then enter the barn (thus killing the bed-bound orc chieftain).

Turn 1 - Rohan Priority
A small band of Rohan warriors advanced from the west towards their objective in a small huddle; each man nervous and wondering what might greet them at the riverside barn. Meanwhile, a small warband of orcs crouched lazily outside the barn whilst their chieftain suffered from a fever within. Once he was better, he would lead them on a path of destruction throughout the Westfold.

Turn 2 - Rohan Priority
As the goodly warriors advanced upon the barn the sharp ears of the orc lookout picked up on their steady progress and yelped the alarm. The orcs grabbed their weapons and advanced upon the Rohan stalwarts. One of the orc scouts managed to get a shot off with his bow but the shaft failed to find its mark. The rest of the orcs clashed with their hated adversaries.

Turn 3 - Orc Priority
Now that combat was joined, the orc numbers told and they began to encircle their foes. The Rohan troops put up a brave fight in the hope of breaking through their ranks and putting their chieftain to the sword. Unfortunately the two-handed axes and support of their spearmen caused grave injuries to two of the brave Rohan warriors.

Turn 4 - Rohan Priority
The broken ranks of the Rohan shield wall allowed the two archers to peel off and advance towards the barn entrance supported by a solitary swordsman. The orcs redoubled their efforts to defeat their foes but the wily Rohan captain managed to split his forces in such a way that they diverted the main force of the orc attack away from the two archers tasked with killing the orc chieftain.

With a little support on the flanks, the Rohan troops were able to keep the orcs away from their assassins. Unfortunately the heavy two-handed axes of the orcs took their toll and another Rohan warrior fell to the ground. The remnants of the shield wall put up a grim defence and were rewarded with dispatching two lowly orc warriors. The remaining orc archers attempted to stop the two Rohan scouts from breaking into the barn, but their shafts either bounced off their armour or stuck in the wooden door frame.

Turn 5 - Rohan Priority
The two Rohan archers finally broke the door down and entered the barn. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the gloom within, but as soon as they saw the cot on which the orc captain lay they loosed their arrows with deadly precision and killed him where he lay.

Meanwhile, outside, the Rohan troops whooped in joy at the death screech of the orc captain and attempted to make their get away. They ran as fast as they could, dodging the deadly arrows from the orc bows, but one poor fellow could not escape the deadly kiss of a two-handed axe. He fell before he could join his comrades in the woods to the south.

Summary - a Draw
A few things could be taken from this rather short game (it lasted about 30 minutes). The boys still saw it as a kill 'em all type scenario - I had to keep reminding them of their objectives.

Nick got his two men into the barn and dispatched the (imaginary) orc chieftain; this gained him his victory point. Alex managed to slay half of Nick's force, and thus gained his victory point that way.

The orc teaming up of a two-handed weapon supported by a spearman proved to be a deadly combination. This is definitely something to think about if I play with them in the future due to their generally being inferior troops. The Rohan shields proved pretty useless as they do not provide anything extra to the troops' defence at this level (I haven't introduced the 'shielding' rules yet).

We did not use any leaders in this game, so there were to be no break points. The game was designed to have ended after 10 turns as I supected the boys would play a bit of cat and mouse whilst they attempted to manoeuvre their troops to achieve their victory conditions. It only took 5 turns of direct combat in the end, but it was a very tense 5 turns.

Diamond Sky - Session 3 (29/07/15)

We had a new player join us this week. He has taken on the role of Salderban until his usual player returns. The party has grown to a very handy six characters now...

Karik (?) - Sorceror
Rhogar (Dragonborn) - Warlock
Salderban (Human) - Paladin
Skins (Kobold) - Barbarian
Torric (Human) - Bard
Zook (Gnome) - Ranger

Okzar - the flame-headed brass construct

Arathea, the half-elf, backed off from the party after she had stabbed the old elf and threatened to kill herself. Rhogar, being an ex-slave himself, calmed her with his soothing words, but no sooner had she stopped trembling than the old elf began to live again. The blood stopped flowing from his wounds and he tried to rise again despite being bound.

Skins, her barbarian instincts prickling, battered him to the ground again with her axes and Zook pinned his hand to the ground with his own eldritch dagger to prevent him from rising again. Despite his pain the old elf attempted to cast a spell, but Torric put a stop to his movements and suggested that all his clothing and trappings be removed lest they contained the source of his power. He was stripped to his loincloth with Karik taking his rings and Torric his strange black robe with a sash of eyes.

Okzar iterated the fact that they needed to get moving if they were to save his brothers and escape the Magnaroc, but his words fell on deaf ears as Salderban went off to investigate the lift apparatus, Karik went to look at the book on the elf's lectern and Zook made his way to look at a bubbling cauldron nearby. Nothing new was learned about the lift device, but Karik got a swift peak at the book and saw that it was about airships before Okzar growled a warning and slammed it shut. The bubbling cauldron turned out to contain a vile concoction of demi-human body parts in a broth that was undoubtedly for consumption by the bullywugs.

Torric cast a Detect Magic cantrip which highlighted the book, the eye-sashed robe, the rings in Karik's possession, the chain around the necks of the three remaining elf's slaves, and a chest off to one side of the room. Torric persuaded the old elf to give up the secrets of the locks and got the chest opened, which revealed an amulet, four scrolls and some good food.

Arathea, once again scared now that the elf was back alive begged for the party to kill him to finally free her from his thrall but Torric and Rhogar continued to question him. This led to the old elf attempting to cast some diversionary magic before Rhogar Eldritch Blasted the wizard, taking away half of his head, thus killing him once and for all.

Torric revived Arathea from her faint with a small sip from the last remaining Potion of Healing and gave her some of the good food from the chest, which revived her no end. He then did the same for the other three slaves still standing upon the dais. It was at this point that Okzar finally lost his patience and ordered the party to get going with Zook leading the way over the bridge.

Their path took them through a series of large caverns and small, twisting crevices and ended in a large cavern beneath the main caldera of the volcano. In the centre of the room they espied a large magma chamber with a narrow stone bridge spanning it. Flying around the upper reaches of the caldera, close to the open air, they spotted one of the smaller red dragons but the central magma chamber was surrounded by a score of bullywugs praising three figures that stood upon the narrow bridge. Every so often one of the bullywugs would be directed to jump into the magma.

The three figures on the stone bridge did not spot the adventurers as they crept into the chamber due to the concentration they had upon the ritual that they were performing. Okzar pointed to the far end of the chamber where there were two huge glass cabinets that each contained a huge construct not unlike himself. He handed a key each to Zook and Skins and ordered them to open the cabinets and thus free his brothers.

Skins and Zook took to their tasks and rapidly advanced upon the cabinets whilst the rest of the party took up supporting positions. Unfortunately, as the two sneaking party members approached their goal, they were spotted by the three figures on the bridge who ordered their bullywug minions to attack them. It was at this point that the party realised that one of the figures was the old maester from the sky-ship they had crash landed on the Magnaroc. The other two were a red-skinned bullywug type and a large devil. When any member of the party looked at the red amphibian they found that they felt nauseous and were ill.

Now that they had been spotted, the band of adventurers charged into battle to support their two sneaking comrades. Many bullywugs were pushed directly in to the lava but soon their numbers began to tell and they became less of an easy target. However, the superior skills-at-arms of the party told through and the bullywugs began to fall faster and faster, especially with Torric's magical chanting and ballads belittling their prowess. Okzar made straight for the bridge to bring battle to the three beings there.

The red being saw the advance of Okzar and that the fight was going against his sect, so he made himself disappear and a sphere of bright white light appeared in his place. This sphere slowly dropped into the magma chamber where it caused great wafts of steam to rise into the room above.

The maester, fearing what might happen, dropped to his knees and grabbed the hem of the skirts of the devil. This caused the devil too to disappear from sight as the magma rose in the chamber beneath. Knowing that he now had nothing to lose, the maester squared up to Okzar who had just reached the centre of the bridge. Okzar roared his battle-cry but it was cut short by a Cone of Cold that shot from the fingers of the magic user. He fell to the ground, the flames of his hair went out.

Rhogar cast an Eldritch Blast at the maester and Torric's bardic lore caused the old wizard to clutch at his head and fall to his death into the rapidly rising magma. Karik just had time to grab the magical book from Okzar before they realised that they had to leave the caldera as soon as possible.

They shouted to Skins, Zook and Salderban to hurry up and release the giants. The three warriors rapidly finished off the last of their bullywug adversaries before they put the keys into the locks on the cabinets. A quick turn of the keys released a magical energy that turned the locks and the doors began to open. The giants within, their eyes full of fire, emerged from their slumber.

Skins commanded the first giant to return her to her companions. The giant obliged by picking up the small kobold and threw her the length of the room. Zook chose his words more carefully and ordered the giant constructs to collect Okzar then follow the party and aid in restoring the Magnaroc to order.

The small band of adventurers made their way to the exit from the magma chamber, but not before the small red dragon managed a single swoop down on Rhogar before it too made its escape.

It was only a matter of a few minutes before they had regained the chamber with the sky-ship and the three remaining slaves. The sounds of the volcanic eruption rang in their ears.

Diamond Sky - Session 2 (22/07/15)

This week saw one of the players (Salderban) leave us temporarily whilst he goes on holiday, but we were joined by another new player to replace him, so party numbers remained at five.

Bullywugs go to war - courtesy of WotC

The Party:

Karik (?) - Sorceror
Rhogar (Dragonborn) - Warlock
Skins (Kobold) - Barbarian
Torric (Human) - Bard
Zook (Gnome) - Ranger

Whilst the four companions watched what was happening at the cave and discussed what they were going to do with the captain when they got back from investigating the distant combat, one of the former slaves edged away from the rest of his companions and rooted around on the now broken and deserted sky-ship for a few items that may come in handy at a later time and place.

Skins and Zook were the first into the fray, their axes and swords carved crimson swathes through the
amphibious and insectoid enemy; their chosen enemy was no longer the warband of towering 5' tall frog men but also their attendant fire beetles. Torric began to sing a ballad to magically aid his companions whilst Karik hung back with his loaded crossbow at the ready.

The beings, now recognised as bullywugs, had encircled the fire-headed bronze dwarf and began to strike at him in earnest, but upon contacting the warrior their heads burst into flame. This great loss of batrachian life caused the rest of their companions to turn tail and flee, but the party managed to overcome and dispatch the remainder before they made it back inside the cavern. Skins and Zook cut the firestones from the beetles for later use.

The dwarf took up position before the cavern in front of the party. He introduced himself as Krokdahk Oxar; the prenom being his rank of chief mason as translated by Karik and Zook. Skins stepped forward to shake hands with the now recognisable metallic construct but burned his hands before he could pull them away from Oxar's purposefully light grip.

At the same moment, there was a great roar from the distant volcano and it began to erupt with fire and brimstone. Oxar suggested that the party followed him if they wanted to leave the magnarock alive. The adventurers unanimously agreed and Torric ran swiftly back to the captain to tell him that they were going to aid Oxar and then come rescue him and his remaining crew and passengers. As the party entered the cavern, they failed to spot a sixth shadow slip silently in behind them.

Oxar led the small band of explorers into the mountainside through a great pair of brass valves. The gigantic chamber beyond seemed to resemble a huge workshop or factory with great walkways and tunnels leading off all over the place. However all the finery of the machinery was off-set by the air of disuse.

The party passed through a second, smaller door into a further chamber full of caskets that contained many brass body parts. Oxar introduced them in his gruff language as "Father". Many further doors led off from this chamber into what looked like living quarters; enough rooms for a whole settlement. Oxar did not stop and led them further into the mountainside settlement but the air was laden with the doom of many deaths. Scattered about the chambers were the bodies of many of Oxar's kin as well as many half snake-half man creatures that were recognised as salamanders.

The flame-headed dwarf finally came to a halt at a fourth chamber that contained two large conveyer belts that ended above two deep holes. A great door between them blocked any further progress. Oxar moved towards the hatch wheel that locked the great door but halted, as did the rest of the party as they heard in the distance the sound of many flopping feet approaching. Oxar growled at the party to hide whilst he took up a defensive stance in front of the final door. Skins and Zook made ready next to him but Torric and Karik found the darkest of corners. Nobody noticed in the kerfuffle the trailing shadow take up position in the darkness beside one of the entrance doors.

A large patrol of bullywugs marched past the entrance without looking into the room, obviously bent on going somewhere in a hurry and would not have stopped until Zook launched an arrow at them. This caused the amphibians and their large fire snake companion to turn into the chamber and attack the party. As the first few enemy warriors passed over the threshold into the room Skins threw his hand axes at the following rank felling one of them whilst Zook carried on shooting arrows into the midst of the front rank. Torric chanted to spur on is companions and sewed confusion into the ranks of the enemy whilst Karik looked for a way out at the great hatch door end of the chamber.

As the second wave began to enter the room the shadowy shape emerged from behind the door and a great wave of fire was launched at the incoming bullywugs. This surprised not only the bullywugs but also the party. However, the greatest surprise was on the bullywugs as the great fiery breath dealt death and destruction amongst their number. Seeing that the dragonborn seemed to be a friend, the rest of the party concentrated on the bullywugs and their snake companion rather than worry about who the reptilian was, but Zook recognised him as one of the ex-slaves from the sky ship.

Whilst the combat erupted around the chamber, Karik tried the great door to see if he could escape. He did not have the strength to turn the great hatch wheel so he jumped up onto one of the stationary conveyor belts and wriggled through the chain curtain into the room beyond. The room was full of various wonders but what grabbed his attention most was the vast amount of potions and precious stones. He stuffed a couple of handfuls of the processed stones into his pockets and went about testing some of the small vials. One particular group of the potions contained within a box upon a side table seemed quite familiar to him so he grabbed a few and made his way to the back of the door to see if it could be opened from that direction. He had just as much luck on that side of the valve so, after pulling 3 levers beside the door, he decided to return to the fight.

Inside the conveyer belt chamber the fight was not going well for the party; Oxar had fought the fire snake to a standstill whilst the party slowly mopped up the bullywugs with their combined magical and martial prowess. Unfortunately, numbers began to tell and the party slowly succumbed to their wounds. When they heard the whine of turbines come from beyond the door they were fighting to protect, Oxar swore an oath and redoubled his efforts against the snake.

Looking over his shoulder, Karik saw that a great cauldron in the centre of the room had begun to bubble with clear liquid whilst great fans in the ceiling began to blow cool air into the room. At the same time, the conveyor upon which he was standing began to move him back into the room he had just left.

Skins was very badly injured and extricated himself from the melee he was in in order to try to lick his wounds and rejoin the combat at a distance whilst the fresher Rhogar, the dragonborn, covered his retreat. Torric and Zook held their own and dealt out more damage from a distance whilst the combat between Oxar and the snake remained in deadlock.

Just as Skins thought all was lost, Karik came through from the far room, stood upon the moving conveyer belt. He caught the small vial that was thrown at him, pulled the stopper and drank the contents at the signal from Karik. He felt better very quickly as the magical Healing properties of the liquid coursed through his veins. Following his lead, the others who had been thrown a vial followed suit.

Karik rode to the end of the conveyer belt, leapt off and then removed one of his gloves which revealed a pallid, thin white hand. From this hand shot a Ray of Frost, which struck the fire snake and turned the combat in favour of Oxar. It was with a renewed vigour that the rest of the party rejoined the combat and swiftly put paid to the remnants of the bullywug patrol and their fire snake compatriot.

Torric quickly leapt onto the serpent and removed its poisoned fangs whilst the rest of the party collected their spent arrows and axes, and tended to their wounds. Oxar opened the door to the chamber beyond and led them into the now cold interior. He pulled the levers back into the opposite position to which Karik had pulled them.

With a grunt, he led the party back through the chamber where the combat had just taken place and headed off in the direction that the bullywugs were taking before they were ambushed by the party. He led them through a mine where more dead dwarfs and snake-men lay. Scattered around the huge chamber were huge piles of unrefined jet - a small sample of which was now sitting in Karik's pockets.

Finally, the last corridor opened into a huge chamber that held over one hundred bullywugs that appeared to be worshipping a tall, skinny, old elf with a ring around its neck that held four beings at the end of chains attached to it. The bullywugs were in awe of the elf and as a result failed to spot the party arrive.

There were two exits from the large chamber; to the right was a stone path and bridge that led towards the volcano and opposite was a brass lift with the insignia Azroc (ship) inscribed above it. The party decided to split at this stage but just as they began to move, the elf's speech reached a crescendo and the bullywugs began to rapidly leave the chamber via the bridge exit.

With only the old, skinny elf and his four attendants left, the party advanced amongst the shadows towards the raised dais upon which he was stood. Rhogar created a diversion with a Noise cantrip, but one of the beings attached to the elf via a chain was not fooled. The old elf undid his collar, left the small band on the dais, and moved off towards a table and began to read a book laying thereupon; he began giggling to himself.

The female half-elf that had previously spotted the party began to work on her chains whilst the party advanced upon the elderly elf. Torric crept up behind him and grabbed him firmly by the throat. Skins unpacked his rope and tied the villain up with it. Meanwhile, the female half-elf had been able to free herself from the chain and had found a dagger from somewhere. She walked over to the elderly elf with menace in her eyes. Torric asked if this was what she really wanted and without saying a word, plunged the dagger into the old elf's neck, killing him instantly.