Session Logs - Undertower

Crow (Mark W.) <@U0D4MGB0B|gaiusmarcus> set the channel purpose: Undertower Session NotesDrombar (Dave P.) <@U0EH6FLH2|daveperry> has joined the channelAshlyn (Matt M.) <@U0D4TS341|deckofmanythings> has joined the channelBr. Lucius (Jim Y.) <@U0D7TUFT6|jyonemura> has joined the channelGM (Kyle B.) <@U0D4Q04QY|kyle> has joined the channelAlden (Ray C.) <@U0D4TPKPX|rchiang> has joined the channelSnogmaul (Peter D.) <@U0DQEDVK7|retepsmagicslate> has joined the channelVargas (Rick D.) <@U0D6CTK1T|storm-x> has joined the channelOrestes (Robt. G.) <@U0D82BPLK|sunjester> has joined the channelLoyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) <@U0D4PCA9K|youngster> has joined the channelSession 1--2015.11.14Crow (Mark W.) set the channel topic: First SessionCrow (Mark W.) Starting in the city of DarkEmber. We've all heard that House Telks runs caravans to the Undertower.Loyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) :camel: :camel: :camel:Crow (Mark W.) Dark Ember is run on endenture economy, even after death in some cases.Crow (Mark W.) yeah, probably wont keep typing here, probably do a text file and share it hereAshlyn (Matt M.) pls keep typing hereCrow (Mark W.) Oh fineOrestes (Robt. G.) Just one cockatrice? Easy peasy!Crow (Mark W.) The party tries to organize transport to Undertower but the cost is 500 gp. (Note: Malring Special shipping is 50 gp).Orestes (Robt. G.) 2000 gp for a live one, 1000 for Sea dead oneOrestes (Robt. G.) Round 'em up, RAWHIDE!Crow (Mark W.) The agent from Telks tells us that cockatrice parts from nearby can pay our way, one dead cockatrice is good for the price of two passages.Ashlyn (Matt M.) Rick is going to talk like Christian Bale Batman from now on.Orestes (Robt. G.) The cockatrices are about a day's march away.Alden (Ray C.) Is Rick's character (or Rick) wearing a Batman like suit? If so, then it's okay.Orestes (Robt. G.) He's wearing black... does that count?Alden (Ray C.) I'll allow it.Crow (Mark W.) We leave town from the West gate, and soon the road turns south. We break off the road and head West. We notice a larger group following us, led by a goliath/ogre/ really big orc.Orestes (Robt. G.) Looks like it's 9 dudes.Crow (Mark W.) we start to veer north, figuring if they shift to follow us, we can hit one end of the lineLoyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) **suspenseful music**Loyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) The cockatrices were a traaaaaap!Orestes (Robt. G.) Hey, no giveaways!Crow (Mark W.) After we get out of sight of the road, we notice they are starting to close on us. We decide to stop and confront them. When they get within 200', the tiefling sorcerer Vargas sprays a _ray of frost_ in front of them, The guy in the middle points at Vargas and the rest of his men (humanoids) ready crossbows.Loyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) Ruh rohLoyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) Um, sorry I'm not there to prevent tpk guys.Alden (Ray C.) At least the group has one archer. Can't be worse than the 4E game where we had 0 ranged attacks.Crow (Mark W.) Crow fires first and hits the heavy crossbowman on the left, Vargas misses with a _firebolt__, Ash, takes cover and ,maneuvers towards the enemy.Crow (Mark W.) The half-ogre(?) throws a javelin (@100' !) and misses by throwing long (!)</b>Orestes (Robt. G.) Vargas gets hit by one of the heavy crossbow guys and gets knocked unconscious.Crow (Mark W.) Two of the light-crossbowmen fire at Vargas and miss. Then one of the heavy xbows fire and take Vargas down. The other heavy xbow hits Crow.Crow (Mark W.) Brother Lucius heals Vargas and interposes himself to provide cover. Drombar and Orestes take cover. The remaining light-crossbowmen fire, and Crow falls.Crow (Mark W.) Vargas casts a _fog cloud_ which masks the party from missle fire. Ash attacks from concealment and hurts a light-crossbowmen who drops his crossbow.Crow (Mark W.) Drombar suggests that we back to the edge of the cloud.Crow (Mark W.) The leader of the bandits yells and charges into the cloud. Two of the smaller bandits engage Ash.Crow (Mark W.) Snogmaul tries to suprise one of the light crossbowmen but is spotted and misses.Crow (Mark W.) Snogmaul gets grazed.Crow (Mark W.) Crow comes too and charges a loud voice with his greatsword and deals a lot of damage.Crow (Mark W.) Vargas exits the back side of the cloud and readies a _ray of frost_Crow (Mark W.) Ash attacks the woulded bandit and drops him.b He then elbows the guy behind him for a good bit.Alden (Ray C.) Sounds gritty.Crow (Mark W.) its a tough fight but at least its not a giant carp.Crow (Mark W.) Snogmaul takes out the guy that missed him.Orestes (Robt. G.) Drombar and Orestes exit the back side of the cloud and take cover behind stumps, both readying ranged weapons (hand axe and dart) for bad guys to exit.Crow (Mark W.) Crow takes a club hit, but fights on.Crow (Mark W.) Orestes and Drombar attack into the cloud but miss.Crow (Mark W.) The left wing heavy crossbowman shoots at Drombar and misses. Ash's opponent grazes him.Crow (Mark W.) Two other bandits circle around the cloud on the other side, but can't attack.Crow (Mark W.) Crow takes another swing and connects with a blow to the leader and tells him "Surrender", the leader yells "Get him to his men."Ashlyn (Matt M.) Ash continues to pummel the brute and is stunned he has not gone down yet.Crow (Mark W.) Snogmaul attacks from hiding and hits his target.Crow (Mark W.) Ash and Crow are missed in their separate fights. Brother Lucius takes cover and waits for an opponent. Orestes tosses a dart and takes out the light crossbowmen that Snogmaul hit.Crow (Mark W.) Drombar chaerges into the cloud and fells the half-ogre.Crow (Mark W.) Crow wheels on the other enemy in the c cloud and deliviers another mighty blow.Crow (Mark W.) Vargas drops the _fog cloud_ and hits the bruiser on Ash with _magic missile_, then Ash drops him, missing her follow-up attack.Crow (Mark W.) Ash's last opponent takes to his heels. Snogmaul misses with a hand crossbow and moves to intercept if he runs.Crow (Mark W.) The remaining bruiser hits Crow with his club. Brother Lucius double moves towards the remaining light crossbowmen. Orestes moves to engage a light crossbowman but misses with his staff and then makes a fist attack that lands.Orestes (Robt. G.) Actually, Orestes closes on the bruiser that Crow and Drombar were engaging to do his flurry of blows.Crow (Mark W.) Drombar takes a swipe with his axe and lands a blow. The other two lights crossbowmen disengage and run. Crow swings and takes out the remaining bruiser.Ashlyn (Matt M.) Ash catches up to the fleeing minion and kicks him in the back of the leg saying "My friends only need to THINK I killed you." He responds with "Payment for peace?" "Sure" and he falls to the leg strike, dropping his coin purse and weapon and slinks away in the tall grass.Crow (Mark W.) Crow takes a shot and misses then hits his next two,. The last one Crow hits at 400 yards.Orestes (Robt. G.) Thus endeth the battle.Alden (Ray C.) Sweet. It's like I was there. :smile:Crow (Mark W.) we're heading out for food, back in 30-45 minutesAlden (Ray C.) OkayCrow (Mark W.) we're backAlden (Ray C.) Tried calling you. Question about parking. Currently in Cahill Park Permit area.Crow (Mark W.) sorry, come get a permitAlden (Ray C.) 2nd watch: Crow and Orestes are on watch.Alden (Ray C.) Much comedy as Vargas and Snogmaul check out something out at the perimeter.Alden (Ray C.) 4th Watch: Brother Lucius can't shake the feeling that the party is being watched.Alden (Ray C.) Ash does a perimeter check. He finds a part of the brush which he is unable to see through. Once he's within about 100 ft of the forest, he sees two distinct masses near each other in the brush.Alden (Ray C.) Back at the party, Brother Lucius lights up a torch.Alden (Ray C.) Ash gets a bit closer when all of a sudden, out of the brush, two cockatrice's explode out of the brush.Loyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) :rooster: :rooster:Ashlyn (Matt M.) Ashlyn goes downAshlyn (Matt M.) :disappointed:Alden (Ray C.) after being attacked by two cockatrice. Meanwhile, the party makes their way to Ash (220 feet away).Alden (Ray C.) 3 more cockatrices come upLoyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) Yeeikes!!!Ashlyn (Matt M.) Ash rolls a 20 and pops up!Alden (Ray C.) 3 are attacking Orestes and 2 are attacking Brother Lucius.Alden (Ray C.) Snogmaul shoots at one on Orestes, wounding it further.Alden (Ray C.) Crow moves to the side and shoots at the one on Brother Lucius, hitting it for 10, dropping it.Orestes (Robt. G.) :rooster::skull:Alden (Ray C.) Vargas moves up and casts Shocking Grasp on one of the cockatrice attacking Orestes.Alden (Ray C.) Ash moves up and double slaps one attacking Brother Lucius.Alden (Ray C.) Snogmaul hits one with his crossbow.Alden (Ray C.) Orestes attacks one, knocking it unconscious, but misses with the backhand.Alden (Ray C.) Crow drops another.Alden (Ray C.) Vargas casts Magic Missile at a fresh cockatrice.Alden (Ray C.) Brother Lucius hits his for 4 with his mace.Alden (Ray C.) Aldan hits with a crossbowAlden (Ray C.) Snogmaul fires his hand crossbow at one, critting for 16.Alden (Ray C.) Crow finishes off the last one.Alden (Ray C.) Orestes: "Bag 'em and tag 'em"Alden (Ray C.) After a long rest, Snogmaul goes exploring where the cockatrice were waiting in ambush.Alden (Ray C.) It's a quiet, if nervous night. There is no more motion at night. By the next morning, the petrification wears off and Ash is stabilized.Alden (Ray C.) During the march back to Darkember, the party sees a number of large figures poking around in the grass near the fight.Alden (Ray C.) It looks like there are ogres and hill giants poking around. They seem to point and the hill giant gestures at the party, as if ordering the party to approach.Alden (Ray C.) Hill Giant: Looks like you guys did it.Alden (Ray C.) Brother: We just got here.Alden (Ray C.) Hill: They were carrying weapons and it doesn't look like these guys did it.Alden (Ray C.) (Insight checks: He appears to be thinking)</b>Alden (Ray C.) Hill: (Thinking) Hmmm. Gonna have to be paid for--all this. (Smashes his fists) One way or another.Alden (Ray C.) Crow; Just so the record is straight. They jumped us and paid the price. But in the interest of fairness that's worth 2000 gold with House Telx, which is worth way more than these clowns are worth on their best day.Alden (Ray C.) Hill: (Squints) You tunnel people? There's a hole in the ground that's causin' problem. If you kill it and prove it, we're even. If not, I take the bird, kill two of you, and we'll be even.Alden (Ray C.) Vargas: You know what's in there?Alden (Ray C.) Hill: Some of the things that shouldn't be. And I'll be holding on to the bird until you come back.Alden (Ray C.) Vargas: I'm thinking it will look a bit more than even.Alden (Ray C.) Hill: Well, I was going to take everything you brought back. You can keep it.Alden (Ray C.) Vargas: I appreciate that.Session 2--2015.12.5Crow (Mark W.) Session twoOrestes (Robt. G.) Electric Boogaloo.Crow (Mark W.) Dorog theHill Giant sends an ogre with us to make sure we do what we need to do.Orestes (Robt. G.) Orestes asked how far away the hole was from us. Dorog responded "For you, half day to a day."Orestes (Robt. G.) We start to hike toward the hole. Nox cruises along at speed 40 and doesn't slow down much, so at the end of the day, we're pretty tired.Nox (Steve O.) Nox goes towards the hole in the ground. Little people - too slow.Orestes (Robt. G.) Ash uses her History skill to determine that the hole we're going to is actually a burial ground.Orestes (Robt. G.) Orestes also knows that there may be caverns in the burial ground area that may connect to the Underdark (if what he's been told is true).Br. Lucius (Jim Y.) The night watch notices lights in the direction of the cairnsOrestes (Robt. G.) We notice about half a dozen lights that eventually go out.Orestes (Robt. G.) We make it to the burial site. We find the burial mounds with the rings of stones - one of them has the ring in a hexagonal pattern. Site A has 6 (hexagonal). Site B has 8 but haphazardly. Site C has 6, but 2 have fallen over.Crow (Mark W.) Nox tries to head to a mound with eight stones, but Ashlyn convinces him that the mound with six stones in hexagonal pattern is the place to goCrow (Mark W.) As we near the mound we see figures (humanoids) hiding behind the stonesAlden (Ray C.) "I want you to lay down a suppressing fire with the incenerators and fall back by squads to the APC."Orestes (Robt. G.) Steve IS the APC!Ashlyn (Matt M.) We got into a shouting match with the guy behind the stonesAshlyn (Matt M.) He claims to be a guardian of this place and is trying to warn us offCrow (Mark W.) Nox starts up the hill, Crow follows behind both dodging to avoid missiles, Vargas is racked with indecision. Orestes follows along behind Crow. Brother Lucius double movesup in parallel with Nox.Crow (Mark W.) we continue up the hill, they don'take any action until Nox and Lucius get to 70 ftCrow (Mark W.) The old guy on the hill warns us off one last timeCrow (Mark W.) Nox moves up and a spell goes off. Nox decides that this whole thing is a mistake (_charm_)</b>Crow (Mark W.) He then heads towards the hill with eight stones.Crow (Mark W.) four guys rush out and attack Ashlyn, Snogmaul shoots from cover and misses.Crow (Mark W.) Crow drops his bow, and moves 20' to help Ashlyn, and hits one of themCrow (Mark W.) Vargas casts _fire bolt_ and hits one of theattackers, dropping him. Orestes moves up to within 15 ft and throws a dart, missing.Ashlyn (Matt M.) Four more swordsman come out. Four attack Ash and miss, two attack Crow one hits, one attacks Nox and hitsCrow (Mark W.) Ash taunts them about their fallen comrade, and three more charge out, but they all miss. One hits Crow, who hits back ans nearly takes him out, Nox takes one out in a blowCrow (Mark W.) Orestes takes out the wounded guy and one of the others. Vargas misses with _ray of frost_Crow (Mark W.) Ash disengages and engages the spellcaster, who responds with _magic missile_ dropping him, The third bolt hits Orestes.Crow (Mark W.) Orestes hits back and takes out his opponent, Lucius drops the last fighter. Lucius moves over and starts prepping _cure wounds_Orestes (Robt. G.) They're all wearing symbols that indicate they're part of the cult of the Nulls.Crow (Mark W.) we decide to take a long rest,Crow (Mark W.) SOP First watch: Orestes and Vargas, 2nd Nox and Crow, 3rd watch Ashlyn and Snogmaul, Last watch Ashlyn and LuciusOrestes (Robt. G.) On first watch, a spectral visage (in the form of a king with a crown) rises from the middle of the circle and starts attacking Orestes. Vargas fires _magic missiles_ at it (which hit), and Orestes whacks it with his staff for a bit of damage.Orestes (Robt. G.) Crow slices it with a sword (for half damage) and Ash fires some projectile for minimal (0?) damage.Orestes (Robt. G.) The Spectral Lord slices Orestes with a 20 (!) and takes Orestes down with 19 damage (he had 10, so he's still a bit alive).Orestes (Robt. G.) Vargas fires another _magic missile_ at it and does 11! It hisses and slowly dissolves into the earth.Alden (Ray C.) WowOrestes (Robt. G.) After Orestes gets stabilized, we trek back about 30 minutes (so we're not camping on a tomb) and stay the night. Next morning, we go back to the mound and Nox opens up the circular door on the other side of the mound, then decide we should check the other mounds first, so Nox puts it back.Orestes (Robt. G.) The mound with the fallen stones has a stone entrance as well, but it's been opened recently... like LAST NIGHT!Orestes (Robt. G.) On the other side of the mound with 8 stones, we find the entrance, but it's totally overgrown (as if it's _never_ been moved).Orestes (Robt. G.) We go back to the fallen stones mound (that has a trail leading back the way we came) and open the stone door. There's an initial chamber with decorations (coats of arms, taberds, shields, etc.) that look dwarven. The coat of arms is from the Thorsen clan that operates in the Westmarch. (They're a surface-dwelling clan and are fearsome warriors.) It's from a few generations back. Looks like his steed was buried here (wooly rhino w/rusty barding). There's a narrow opening with a smaller door that is balanced so anyone could be able to turn it. Crow opens the door.Orestes (Robt. G.) This next chamber is reinforced with beams. In the center, there looks like a plain stone sarcophagus. On a stone, there's a suit of armor that may or may not be rusted, but it's at least dirty looking pensively at the coffin. Inside the plate armor, there's a really well-made chain shirt. Off to one side, there's a little pile of shields and small wooden furniture leaned up against the wall.Orestes (Robt. G.) Ash wonders "Why hasn't this place been looted before this?" She goes over to the pile of shields and noticed that there's a rough-dug tunnel behind it. Crow checks out the armor and notices that the armor is very carefully positioned there. The chain shirt is made of some kind of black metal, could be _adamantium_?Orestes (Robt. G.) Brother Lucious casts _guidance_ on Crow and then he tries to lift the helmet off the armor. Roll initiative.Orestes (Robt. G.) After we all stink rolling initiative (nothing higher than a 10), the armor headbutts Crow and tries to slice him (both attempts miss). Orestes swings his quarterstaff hitting it for 6, but misses with the open hand. Nox pokes at it, but misses. Brother Lucius rears back and hits the armor with a mace for 6. Ash swings her quarterstaff and misses with a 14, as her newly-found staff bounces off the armor. Vargas fires off a _magic missile_ and hits for 13 points. Crow two-hands his sword right into the armor for 7 points. Snogmaul looks about the room to see if anything enters, and readies an action to engage. The sarcophagus opens up and IT"S FULL OF TEETH attacking Snogmaul and barely misses.Orestes (Robt. G.) At the end of the round, Snogmaul hits the sarco with a shortsword for 6pts. The armor punches Crow for 5, and then headbutts him for 6, taking him down. Orestes tries to hit the armor twice and misses. Nox reaches over, pokes at it, and misses. Brother Lucius casts _cure wounds_ and the armor whips around trying to hit him. Lucius is cured 8 points. Ash misses with her staff and her fist bounces off as well. Vargas fires another _magic missile_, hitting it for 10 and the armor collapses! Crow wheels around and smashes the sarcophagus for 15. Snogmaul sticks it for 4 points. The mimic bares its fangs and takes a huge bite out of Snogmaul for 8 points and its acid does another 5, taking Snogmaul down.Orestes (Robt. G.) Orestes wheels around and smacks the mimic with his staff for 5, while Nox impales the mimic for a whopping 12 points! Brother Lucius does a _cure wounds_ on Snogmaul, healing him for 14 points - he's up! Ash chucks a dart at the mimic and sticks it for 7. Vargas casts _fire bolt_ and deals 8 points. Crow slices it mightily for 14 points, taking it down! -EOC-Alden (Ray C.) You're a bunch of animals!Crow (Mark W.) we explore the tunnel in the wall, and find a cavern with a pool down below. Snogmaul explores a bit, and we decide we'll all investigate. Once we're down Ash tosses a couple of gobbets of Mimic near the poll to no apparent effect. Shortly however. Snog noticies that it looks like the soil has been chewed on. While we're looking at that a _gibbering mother_ crawls_ out of the pool and attacks Nox. It delivers a mighty bite and spits a goober of blinding spittle. The gibbering affects Crow and Orestes. Several attacks go off doing random amounts of damage.Crow (Mark W.) Snogmaul backs away towards the tunnel. Crow fails to recover from the insanity and runs back towards the entrances. Lucius heals Nox for 11. Orestes recovers and whacks it. Nox too recovers and pokes it with a spear. Ash hits it with a staff, and then Snogmaul kills it.Crow (Mark W.) The gibbering mouther rested in the pool and we spend an hour dredging the pool for treasure.Crow (Mark W.) on our way ouyt Nox takes the wooly rhino skull and horn to make into a helmet.Crow (Mark W.) we get back to the Dorag and he thanks us, when we remind him that he owes us our birds back, and he tells us the live bird died. when we check, we find out it didn't die but only passed out from hunger.Alden (Ray C.) NiceCrow (Mark W.) When we get back to town, we turn over the cockatrice into House Telks and get our eight passages to Undertower plus 20 100 gp trade gems. We cash in the bags of cash for trade gems.Alden (Ray C.) Session over?GM (Kyle B.) Yep!GM (Kyle B.) Four encounters (2x hard, 1x medium, 1x easy), one minor quest completed = 15%+15%+10%+5%+5%GM (Kyle B.) 50% of a level to go with the 70% you had means everyone is now level 2.2GM (Kyle B.) (also, we are switching back to the % system for xp if the above didn't make that obvious)</b>GM (Kyle B.) hit points are take the average rounded up (so 4 for a d6, 5 for a d8, 6 for a d10)</b>GM (Kyle B.) or roll live with the group, with the "DM special" of me rerolling for you if you don't like yours, but then you're stuck with mineGM (Kyle B.) most pesople took the averge, Peter rolled and got 7/8, Robert is still decidingSession 3--2016.02.27Orestes (Robt. G.) Robert rolled and got a 7.Orestes (Robt. G.) We spend a lot of the week long trip to Undertower getting to know one another to some extent. We arrive in Tarrytown safely - the town is basically a tent city that surrounds Undertower. Very few actual buildings.Ashlyn (Matt M.) Tarryton - The surface tent cityAshlyn (Matt M.) Notable locations- Three Pace Pavilion - Common room by night, tavern by day The Berserker - Expensive, but good alesOrestes (Robt. G.) One of the wagons empties up and has seven cloaked figures. The rest seem to contain goods,Ashlyn (Matt M.) Districts- Barterfaire - Trade goods The Anvil - Craft Feedmarket - Animals and food Bloodgold - Hiring and be hired of adventurers.Ashlyn (Matt M.) Notable people Taviel - Trader of high end goods and high end employment Smallboy - Bouncer, operator of Three Pace PavilionLoyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) *Taviel, methinksOrestes (Robt. G.) Orestes, Crow, Drombar, and Vargas head to the Three Paces Pavilion and Orestes tosses a gold at the wait staff for a tab and orders 4 beers at 5cp/beer.Orestes (Robt. G.) We get ready to order another round, and our server says our tab is done. A table nearby with some scruffy guys and an orog seem to have swiped our tab card a bad are drinking from it. We choose to take the path of least resistance and let them have the remaining 60 copper.Alden (Ray C.) LOL. Not even an intimidate or diplomacy check?Ashlyn (Matt M.) Rescue target - retrieving magical salvage. A potential cache of magical goods. We can decide for ourselves what to do with such a cache. Bonus for identifying the cache, Zolkaras, practicioner of forbidden arts, Necromancer?. Sanctum of Zolkaras, bonus 5000gp. Discussion of enchanted items. Operative code name: The Steel Hawk. Gnome. Proficient with blades, good at not being seen.Ashlyn (Matt M.) Observer - Kalina - brother of the rescue target.Orestes (Robt. G.) We use Brother Lucius's connections with the mining company to get us to the 7th level. From there, we go down the third spoke to the fifth rib heading to the second spoke. The fifth rib has a number of alcoves that used to contain merchant stalls. A ways down the rib, Ash notices out of the corner of her eye some movement from one alcove, and a bunch of hungry spiders leap out!Orestes (Robt. G.) We make quick work of the spiders (in one round) without anyone getting hit (although it was close on Vargas), and continue down the rib. Later on, we notice an alcove with a doorway behind it. The doorway leads to a small room with a staircase leading down. The staircase leads to a small room with a grate in the far corner. After opening this grate, we look down and drop a lit torch. The shaft leading down is smooth and then opens out into some kind of room. Our observer suggests that her brother wouldn't have gone this way (how would he have closed the grate behind him?), so we ignore the shaft for now and continue on.Orestes (Robt. G.) About 2/3 of the way down the rib, we see another alcove with a stone table and a large 10x10 shaft leading both up and down. Signage nearby indicates that this shaft used to be an elevator leading from level 3 to level 10. We hook a rope up to the stone table thingie and start lowering folks down from 7 to 8. Drombar is first, followed by Snogmaul, followed by Brother Lucius. As Ash heads down, 3 ghouls climb up and attack Snogmaul!Orestes (Robt. G.) Snogmaul is hit by a ghoul and we start attacking. Brother Lucius turns one of them away after that ghoul is hit by Orestes' dart he threw from the upper level. Ash swings into the lower level while Crow drops the safety rope. The next round, Snogmaul whacks a ghoul and Ash follows with another hit knocking the second ghoul down the shaft. Orestes fires another dart, missing badly, but Ash whips out her staff and catches the dart mid-flight! Drombar swings and misses badly. Vargas fires three magic missiles and blasts the final ghoul down the shaft.Orestes (Robt. G.) Kalina climbs down the shaft, sans rope. Orestes climbs down next, followed by Vargas. Crow now climbs down, and we're all on the 8th level. Drombar uses his _Second Wind_ to help heal himself. We look around to see if there are any tracks out in the rib. There's not a layer of dust, so it's hard to see any tracks. We move down rib 5 heading right towards spoke 3. The alcoves look like more like restaurants, shops, and cafés. There's one of them that is emitting a sickly-sweet odor. Doesn't smell like rotting bodies, fortunately. The restaurants don't look like they've been trashed, but they are a bit cluttered. One of them has a closed stone door. It's called the "Mason House Inn & Tavern." The door is stuck, so we use the pry bars on it to wrench it open. Seems to have been more of a snug fit rather than actually locked. Doesn't look too ransacked. The room is about 20x40 and at the back, there's a staircase leading down with a sign reading "Rooms." We pull the door closed behind us and begin to explore.Orestes (Robt. G.) After a cursory check of the upper area (lots of rickety furniture and empty bottles), we head downstairs. There's a hallway with four doors to rooms and one door at the end with a WC. First door to the right looks like a place for a couple people to sleep. The next one on the right is about twice as big as the first one, can hold about 4 people. The latrine looks like a latrine. The next room is another double-sized room and the final room is a suite. There's an outer room and a separate latrine.Orestes (Robt. G.) We head back up to the tavern and just as we're settling in, we hear some gurgling from downstairs. We open up the stone door to the outside, as we see a gray stone-like blobby substance pouring up the stairs. Orestes moves to the stone door and fires a dart at the glob, hitting for 5 points. The dart almost instantly dissolve. Crow fires an arrow into the glob, hitting for 8 and the arrow dissolves. Vargas casts _Chromatic Orb_ with advantage and uses some points to Twin the orb for 11 and 17 points. We realize that there were more than one as they move into the room. Drombar hacks at one with a handaxe for 4 and the handaxe dissolves. Brother Lucius uses the _Magic Missile_ wand and hits one for 7 points killing one. The globs move into the room and spread out attacking Ash and Crow. Drombar uses his shield to protect Crow. Both of the globs that could attack missed. The other globs were too far away. Snogmaul fires a crossbow bolt at one of them, a crit for 11 kills a glob. Ash pulls out a knife and hucks it at a glob, hitting it for 5 points.Orestes (Robt. G.) Orestes moves back 10 feet into the hallway and lobs a dart, missing the floor. Crow runs back into the hallway and shoots back into the room, hitting for 5 points. Vargas fires _Magic Missile_ and hits for 8. Drombar disengages and leaves the room, as does Lucius. Snogmaul tries to push the door closed and crits (again) with a 20 closing the door.Orestes (Robt. G.) After a long discussion, we decide to let the oozes out of the room and fire at them using arrows, frost bolts, _Magic Missiles_ and darts. It takes us 3 rounds, but we do the 100 damage necessary. We go back into the tavern/inn and close all the doors to the latrines and rooms, then close the main door to the tavern and take a long rest.Alden (Ray C.) Sounds pretty easy so far. :)</b>Orestes (Robt. G.) We trek back down restaurant row toward spoke 3. We take a left on spoke 3 and head deeper into the spoke (away from the center). The next rib isn't blocked, but has a bit of rubble (still commercial district). We continue on after another lengthy discussion about spokes, ribs, and stuff. Cruise by ribs 7 (residential), 8 (residential), 9 (industrial). Rib 10 is starting to get rough. Residential, but crappy residential. Once we get to the 11th rib, a couple of folks (Snogmaul and Ash) notice a sign indicating "Mausoleum." We take a left into the rib. Starts off as low-grade housing, and a few storefronts that service paying respects of the dead (oils, flower shops, tombstones, holy water, etc.).Ashlyn (Matt M.) Are you typing in the car, rchiang ?Orestes (Robt. G.) Something seems "different" on one of the residences. It's got an iron door and isn't rusted. It's also got a keyhole. There are a few boxes at the door from Amazombie Prime (Kyle's joke). We all make Arcana checks. There are some markings - Orestes notices that there are warding runes, and Snogmaul notices that the runes are associated with stuff in the Negative Material Plane. Some stuff to be kept out and some stuff can come through. Vargas thinks that it's to keep things in as well as keeping things out of this dwelling.Orestes (Robt. G.) Snogmaul rolls a 24 and picks the lock! (Peter's crushing his rolls, last three were 20, 20, and 19.) Drombar opens the room. The room is a well-appointed entry parlor, tapestries on the wall, nice furniture, etc. Everything looks great... Except for the half dozen dead bodies strewn about the floor. The bodies are of varying ages, some desiccated, some with a lot of flesh still left on them. About 10 feet in, there's one body feet toward the door and head - seems strangely perfectly aligned with the room. Looks pretty fresh as well. At the back of the room, there's another iron door with more symbols on the door itself as well as around the outside of it. Ash steps in, waits a second or two, then moves toward the body. Then.... We roll initiatives.Orestes (Robt. G.) The carpet whips up and wraps up Ash in a musty embrace. Meanwhile, all the bodies start to rise and lumber about. The super-fresh body turns toward us and has the tabard with Taviel. Oops, the observer. Ash breaks free of the carpet, and does _Step of the Wind_ as a _ki_ action to exit the room. Vargas fires off a _Fire Bolt_ at the guy in the tabard, hitting it for 7. Drombar closes the door. We hear clawing at the door. Knowing the mechanism of the door, Snogmaul locks the door.Orestes (Robt. G.) We sit and discuss for a while. And for a while more. Snogmaul is going to unlock the door, Drombar opens the door, and Brother Lucius does a _turn_. 4 are turned, and 4 aren't. 3 have flesh, 5 don't have flesh. 3 skeletons and 1 zombie are turned, 2 skeletons and 2 zombies are not. The one gnome zombie in front isn't the brother (as called out by our observer).Orestes (Robt. G.) The carpet whips about, snake-like, and zips out of the room heading straight for Ash. Drombar and Crow get targets of opportunity, Drombar hits for 10 and the carpet slurps up Ash and hits for 11 points. Ash does an escape (with 21) to wriggle free. Vargas twins his _Chromatic Orb_ and crits TWICE, torching the carpet, then getting three 8s to blow up the zombie in the doorway. Holy smoke! Drombar whacks the short zombie hitting for 5. Snogmaul rolls yet another 20 (on his loaded die) for 9 points on the little zombie. Orestes whips a dart at the little zombie, hitting it for 4 points. Crow shoots an arrow at the shortie, hitting it for 4 points. Brother Lucius heals Ash for 11 points. Two skeletons attack Drombar and miss.Orestes (Robt. G.) Ash ignores the evil dead and leans on her staff to rest. Vargas shoots a _Fire Bolt_ at the little zombie, hitting it for 1 and killing it! Drombar whacks a skeleton for 6 points. Snogmaul hits with a 16 for 9 points, taking it down! Orestes throws another dart at the remaining skeleton, hitting it for 4 points. Crow fires an arrow at the skeleton, doing 9 points and wiping it out! Brother Lucius shoots his crossbow at the other gnome-zombie hitting it for 5.Orestes (Robt. G.) Ash readies an action to attack anything that comes out of the door. Vargas also readies an action. The zombie shambles closer and Kalina sighs and says "yeah, that's him." Vargas hits the zombie for 9 points, Drombar hits it for 4, Orestes throws a dart hitting it for 5 taking it out. We drag the zombody out of the door. Cha-CHING! $$$ We drag the other two zombies out of the room and lock the door. We're not going to loot the other Observer, as he's an employee (and we might get another reward), but we do loot the other gnome. He's carrying 6 trade games worth 100gp each, decorative bits of jewelry worth 100gp, coin worth 90gp, another 100sp, guild sign of an expediter. Carrying a bag on his belt with a ball of fur in it. Ash throws it on the ground and it turns into a badger and looks at Ash. Tucked along the gnome's back is a well-crafted throwing handaxe. -EOC-Session 4--2016.2.27Snogmaul (Peter D.) The party is heading to the Mason House Inn and Tavern. There may be phase spiders in the area. Watch time/order: rick and Mark 1st and last, Jim and robert 2nd, Peter and Dave 3rd, matt 3rd and 4thSnogmaul (Peter D.) ignore watch order above, used pinned order from prior sessionSnogmaul (Peter D.) phase spider has shown up on Vargas' watch, spider size: Lg (bear sized); seems intelligent, it talked to Vargas but he did not speak its languageSnogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas hits with a ray of frost (3 pts and speed is reduced); Brother hits with a crossbow (4 pts); Crow hits with a great sword (10 pts); Spider makes attack (4pts) and save vs const and made it; spider phased outSnogmaul (Peter D.) back to sleep, resume watch orders; nothing happens ; long rest is finished! Continue on our way out. Pass shops to shaft with the rope hanging that we left hanging. Crow climbs up first (20 on athletics). Tentacles appear from above Crow! Snogmaul fires a bolt and hits (6 pts). Tentacles attack for 8 pts dam. and a save vs con; makes it; grappled and restrained; beak attack follows and hits for 9 pts damage; Crow goes unconscious. Brother Lucius heals 7 pts. on Crow. Ash boots the brain with a beak (4 pts) and gets to the second landing above. Crow swings his sword and misses, then breaks free from being restrained... and falls 20 feet with 7 pts dmg; Vargas hits with a fire bolt for 9 ptsSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul fires a bolt and fails (1); creature goes after Ash and misses; Brother does another 8 pt heal at at distance; Ash misses with a staff and dodge (disadvantage for the creature); Crow uses all of his actions to move up the whole rope to be with Ash; Vargas moves up the rope and shoots it with a firebolt 8 pts dmg; Snogmaul climbs the uses rapier, misses and then gets attacked by the creature and paralyzed by tentacles and the beak misses; creature tries to fly off with his little meal (if only Snogmaul were heavy like a human or a dwarf)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow attacks with 2 handed sword for 9 pts of dmg; Vargas attacks with Shocking Grasp for no effect even with a great hit (immune); Crow tried really really hard to save Snogmaul; creature is flying away at 30 ft per round; Brother casts Bless, (ie d4 bonus to save and attack rolls); Ash hits with a shirkin and does 4 pts dmg; Vargas firebolt (rolls a 1!); Snogmaul misses save... again; creature attacks for another 12 pts of dmg and Snogmaul is unconscious... on a one-way flight to ???Snogmaul (Peter D.) Go after the gnome? A short debate. Ash dashes to engage and Crow dashes as well. Vargas is up and sees the creature chewing on the gnome; hallway goes on into the darkness toward a big avenues, there are side passages; Snogmaul misses save; creature misses horribly ; Ash hits for 6 pts of dmg and the creatures pops into big squishy mess; Brother Lucius restores Snogmaul! (at 7 hit points now) YEAH!Snogmaul (Peter D.) lift could be restored to working order if need be; Ash wants to scout the immediate area on this levelSnogmaul (Peter D.) we are on tier 5 , spoke 5, rib ?Snogmaul (Peter D.) heading toward hub, doors and area are pristine, we make an "agreement" with the observer that she gets 1/10 share of future treasure in the new oddly unexplored area; the whole party arrives in the safe zone - - - correction tier 5, spoke 3 - - - shaft goes up to tier 3 to 10; meet with rep of Taziel and we fulfilled both parts of our contract and are paid 10,000 gp; +1 battle axe that glows with 120 ft of goblinoids and bugbears, bag of tricks, guild sign, plus other stuff from prior adventure (see slack "treasure" for details)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) everyone's share of the treasure is 1140 gpSnogmaul (Peter D.) the battle axe was resized by Kyle to hand axe, same stats for itSnogmaul (Peter D.) the party got a meeting with the Hollow Sage upon introduction by Calina (spelling)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) he resides in a tent; traveling gear etc; trap door in tent opens to the first tier of the Undertower; access is sealed off; dimly lit; Calina (password in draconic) wards go down, and in an open sarcophagus rune marked bandages a dwarf, raspy voice responds - - - Ash explains what we found - - - responds "grell... several nest there... eternal guard..." Ash asks "Is it worth the risk?" Voice responds "few... small groups" Ash "what is the eternal guard?" Voice responds "constructs... cannot be stopped... can be delayed... can find the secret... there is a way... I never found it." Brother Lucuis "Dark Cathedral" Voice "past 20... tier 23, spoke 4... all of it"Snogmaul (Peter D.) Voice "it (the cathedral) is not safe... demons" (as of the time of his death 25 years ago)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow asks about an item he is looking for; voice responds "spoke 9 on that tier, it does not go to the hub and begins at rib 5"Snogmaul (Peter D.) update to tier 26, rib 12, between spokes 8 and 9Snogmaul (Peter D.) voice = Hollow SageCrow (Mark W.) he also mentions that Grell only feed in their lairs, they might kill abroad, but they feed at homeSnogmaul (Peter D.) after collecting pay and purchasing gear we head back into the Undertower; tier 7, spoke 3 toward to (secret) shaftSnogmaul (Peter D.) eyes are watching us... Snogmaul speaks to two phase spiders; they speak Drow, the conversation basically goes: spiders "Where did you learn Drow language? Are you food or hunters?" Snogmaul "I learned from my teacher. We are hunters." Spiders: "You should go deeper to find your teacher (the Drow)" We regroup and briefly talk over options.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We decide to proceed, go 50 fifty and are attacked. Two spiders. Snogmaul fires bolt and misses. Brother shoots crossbow bolt and misses. Ash swings and gets a miss (1) and second attack and also misses. Vargas uses shocking grasp, 1 pt dmg. and no reactions until next action. Crow attacks Vargas' spider for 7 pts. Spider (one) attacks Vargas for 11 pts dmg and save vs poison... Vargas makes save and only takes 4 pts of dmg also wait for paralysis for one hour. Snogmaul hits with a bolt for 10 pts on spider one. Crow hit for 13 pts dmg and action surge and misses. Spider one attacks Crow, he takes 7 pts of dmg and 6 pts with poison. Snogmaul attacks spider two for 6 pts of dmg; Ash swings staff and misses and dodges. Crow hits spider two for 12 pts of dmg. Spider one returns. Spider two attacks Ash and misses. Snogmaul kills spider one with 11 pts of dmg. Brother Lucius 4 hp each to Crow and 6 hp to Vargas. Ash attacks with bo staff and 6 pts of dmg and... spin kick for 6 hp...DOWN IT GOES!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Mark does fighter thing (second wind) to heal for 6 hpSnogmaul (Peter D.) We need to rest. Mason House? We return to the mining area and tell about the spiders. Miners' response "We need to close this area!" Ash "When will it reopen?" Maybe sometime in the future.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Miners close the door and we go back to town. Snogmaul and Ash harvest spider poison before we leave.Snogmaul (Peter D.) (Rick is leaving.)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul chickens out and does NOT try. However, Crow gives it a shot... and gets nicked! He is hurt but stops before trying the second one.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We are third level! Woo Hoo!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) and so the adventure ends... for tonight.Session 5--2016.03.19Orestes (Robt. G.) Snogmaul, on his quest for ball bearings, starts being followed by a seedy looking half orc. Ash goes outside the temple to ask his intent - to no avail. He's as silent as a lamb.Orestes (Robt. G.) Snogmaul heads out himself to talk to the half orc. Appears the HO is a member of the guild and tells Snogmaul "no free agents."Orestes (Robt. G.) He wants 1 out of every 10 gold Snogmaul makes, so he can have "friends" in town.Orestes (Robt. G.) For this fee, he can give Snogmaul some jobs.Snogmaul (Peter D.) half-orc thieve's guild contact following Snogmaul; arranges to have an enforcer meet Snogmaul later today; 1/10 of my cut; Snogmaul must demonstrate aquisition ability; contact will travel with our group to see if Snogmaul is good; this could be bad (peter) I realize now; conflict of interest between Thieve's Guild and our last guest observer 3 new messages since 11:27 PM on March 17th Mark as readSnogmaul (Peter D.) guild contact is a Southernling, enforcer sign burned into arm; rep is absolutely ruthless; heavily armored and mult-weaponSnogmaul (Peter D.) off to Tier Six in UnderTower; Brother Lucius tells Shade not to blab about what he sees/hears; Crow says a share will come Shades way if he keeps quiet; we have a deal via Brother LuciusSnogmaul (Peter D.) miners control central shaft and some stairways; miners are creating new tunnels in search of mineral deposits; (timeout for ordering pizza later tonight)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) heading down the spoke, seems residential; passed the mining area; spoke 3, tier 6; we need to go to rib 3 and get there; make a left down 3; we are getting close and something smells rotten; residences look mostly abandoned; we see bones in the corners of the hallway, likely humanoid; not much dust in the way; Lucius looks in doorway and sees entry hall, and there is also a pick-axe (miners ?); looks in another; air is stagnant, smell increases in intensity as we move along; party order: Lucius, Crow, Ashlyn in front, Snogmaul and Vargas in the middle, back is the monksSnogmaul (Peter D.) oh no! it's a... a gaunt rubbery thing leaping at Lucius! wait, there are two of 'em; there's more movement from the other side of the rib; we are being flanked; the monsters have poison that on missed save causes disadvantage on attack and skill checks; door bursts open and four ghouls and more and more ghouls; they attack the monks and hit Orestes for 7 pts and con save and O makes it; Ashlyn is hit for 9 pts and he makes con save; Crow 8 pts dmg and he saves; Vargas is hit for 8 pts and is paralyzed; Snogmaul gets hit for 11pts and makes the saveSnogmaul (Peter D.) six ghouls and two ghasts in total; both Shade and Ashlyn hit for dmg; Lucius attempts to turn creatures within 30 feet, DC 13 wisdom, 1 ghast fails, 2 failsOrestes (Robt. G.) Orestes hits the ghoul in front of him with his quarterstaff for 8pts and follows up with an open hand for another 4pts.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul attacks the one attacking Vargas for 8 pts; one ghast moves back into the house and the other gets an 18 and misses; Ashlyn step of the wind and disengage and will attack the Vargas and... gets a 1 to hit; Shade attacks the one by the door and gets a 12 (and hits exactly) for 8 pts dmg;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas attempts to save and fails; another 20/ crit on Ashlyn for 10 pts dmg, he saves!!! . . . Orestes is hit for 5 pts and con saves; Crow is hit for 8 pts and he saves; Shade is missed and tries to use "superiority" and misses; Crow attacks for 14 pts of dmg and then does second wind for 7 pts backSnogmaul (Peter D.) Lucius heals Ash for 11 pts, touch range; Orestes will attempt a whack and misses and hits for 3 pts and then another 3 pts; Snogmaul kills the creature on Orestes; ghast misses Lucius; Ashlyn hits a ghoul for 10 pts and "kills" the one on Vargas; Vargas is still not paralyzed; Shade attacks for 8 pts dmg and kills his ghoul; the last ghoul attacks Crow and misses; Crow responds with 10 pts of dmg and down it goes!!! Yeah!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius will step back and the ghast misses; Orestes uses some "wind" and half of 3d10 so 13 dmg and it is not knocked proneSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul fails (1 on to hit roll) boo hoo sadness; ghast comes after Lucius and he was ready for it and does 1 pt dmg; the ghast moves to attack and misses, good armor saves Lucius; Ashlyn misses; Shade attacks for 8 pts dmg; Vargas firebolt for 6 pts dmg; Long bow attack by Crow and misses; Lucius misses; Orestes moves to the ghast and hits for 3 pts and fist misses; Snogmaul kills another with 13 pts! All creatures and "dead" or ran awaySnogmaul (Peter D.) the runners do not return; Lucius casts Prayer of Healing for 18 pts back; Much rejoicing! (D&D has out of combat healing. Yeah!!!)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) we corner the uninvited house ghast; Snogmaul gets 13 pts of dmg; Crow engages and must make a save and gets disadvantage; Lucius makes save and misses attack; Orestes will punch and misses; Ashlyn darts with a 24 dart for 6 pts of dmg; Shade misses save and misses with a 1; Vargas hit for 10 pts of dmg; Orestes gets attacked for 12 pts dmg and he saves for paralyzationSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul misses with a bolt; Crow does 11 pts of dmg (ouch and down it goes). Nice job Crow!Snogmaul (Peter D.) ghasts have leftovers inside the house, mess of stuff, couple plat coins, 50 gold, loose silver pieces 1151; twenty + bodies in the room; stone figurine of Moradin and silver mirror; burlap sack with misc items worth about 100 gp crap; one of the bodies has two magic wands!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) short rest; wand are of web and has 7 charges and it regains 1d6 charges at dawn; wand of the war mage and gain a bonus to spell attack rolls +1 and ignore half cover; Orestes gets back all but 1 hpSnogmaul (Peter D.) another short rest and wands are attuned to PCsSnogmaul (Peter D.) we head down the rib and find a landing for the shaft; some rubble obscures the landing to a small degree; we are going up a level; we web the shaft about 2 ft below to avert falling dmg; Crow and Ashlyn climb up; Ash watches and Crow helps people with climbing up via his rope; Orestes climbs, then Shade, then Snogmaul, then the last two climb up; move along tier 5 (unknown zone); this time since there in no grell; dwarven writing says this is "private property" coat of arms Baragan; the clan is not currently living; were a prominent family before the tarrasque; the clan was also known for its connection to the elementals/elemental plane; the clan also suffered with they lost connection to the elemental planes (known as Baragan Estates) tier 5 between spokes 2 and 3Snogmaul (Peter D.) hallways have 20 high carved out; we believe this area does not connect to the central shaft; the entrance has a metal gate with a lock; is there a nest of growl??? on the rib we go towards 3; we want to find if there is an opening to spoke (worked by the miners); there are some skeletons, died to violence; bodies are 100s of years old; moving along; vaulted ceilings have cracks; there are also alcoves (spelling?), fewer than before; side passages had ponies and servants quarters, even the pony area is nicely carved; stonework is "supernatural" according to our dwarfSnogmaul (Peter D.) there is water in the animal chambers and the servants quarters are warm... nothing to worry about... just elemental magic :wink: . . . the air is fresh / / all four elemental aspects of the area seem to be top notch for those that lived in the areaSnogmaul (Peter D.) we are heading down a rib and see a dim light that travels into a side room; Snogmaul, Crow and Ashlyn sneak down the hall; wait for it... wait for it...Snogmaul (Peter D.) the side chamber has three doorways with a dim light coming from one of themSnogmaul (Peter D.) the party splits up (this can only be helpful); three with the light staying on original path; three to follow mystery light; Orestes near the area we splitSnogmaul (Peter D.) dwarf with lantern; shatters lantern and light moves out to attack us; the "light" with arcing light goes after Crow and misses; another grey skinned dwarf? comes out; Crow attacks and does 18 pts of dmg to dwarf; dwarves have armor and weapons; 7 pts of dmg by Ashlyn; injured dwarf attacks Ashlyn with an axe and misses and then tries to grab Ashlyn for 5 pts dmg and con save for necrotic dmg, Ash fails his save and 5 pts come off HP max until a long rest; dwarf misses Snogmaul twice (yeah, I am safe for now)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul disengages and fires a bolt for 16 pts of dmg and the dwarf (wight) dies; Orestes does flurry of blows and hits for 3 pts of dmg; Brother trundles over; Ashlyn does 5 pts of dmg and... also flurry of blows for 4 pts; bad dwarf hits Ash for 8 pts of dmg and the claw misses; runs and attacks the grey skinned humanoid and hits (it is wearing chainmail) for 13 pts dmg; Vargas moves to the fight; Snogmaul does 16 pts of dmg and kills the grey second skin; Orestes misses the light (what?)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother keeps moving up; light vanishes... okay... so Crow and Ashlyn readies and action; it does not reappearSnogmaul (Peter D.) nothing tries to kill us; one of the rooms has a stone door and the room is defenseable; the door locks and the counter weight can be disabled; Ash is trying to get a long rest; we then hear distant screams;Snogmaul (Peter D.) we open the door and find some papers in a room, scribbners were here; some records show geneology (spelling?) magical treated leather scroll; goes back to before Undertower; Orestes takes it; the dwarves may be connected by blood to the elemental planes; family lineage goes back to "Earth"Snogmaul (Peter D.) house barragan also dealt with elemental incurrsionsSnogmaul (Peter D.) records indicate there is a secret door from the Great Hall (Hall of Baragan) to the Central Shaft; rib 3, 2 , and 1 all have secret door access to the spokes; the only unhidden access is the elevator shaft; the info is in dwarven; there is a vault and it is connected to the Great Hall; Vault means where you keep treasure and where you keep the dead; also there is a Plaza of the ElementsSnogmaul (Peter D.) we again hear the screaming (likely not babies)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) hallway is decorated, beautifully carved, precious metals in the walls for decor, also blood stains, some bodies torn to bits; way worse than what we saw before; Orestes thinks it was long ago and the thing moved on; some are not humanoids, some have no skeletons, flesh has decomposed, it was not humanoid; remains are getting more and more numerous, some are aberrations, some could be grell, some could be a gibbering mouth; whatever happened was BAD; some remains are blended in with the floor; elementals got loose???, wailing gets louder and worse - - - then dried up husks; semi-transparent female dwarf wailing standing in front of double doors knocked off their hinges; we backed outSnogmaul (Peter D.) she is in a cleared circle and is surrounded by the carnageSnogmaul (Peter D.) less dense body county as we more away from the Hall of BarraganSnogmaul (Peter D.) Plaza has many water featuresSnogmaul (Peter D.) we head to the end of rib 1; no entrances on this side; we have only one choice if we want to go to the great hallSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul uses the Bag of Tricks - badger ac 10, 3 hp, speed 20, advantage on perception checks, bite +2 to hit, 1 target, 1 dmg, wisdom checks and con saves +1 to eachSnogmaul (Peter D.) the party is 10 feet behind Brother Lucius and Vargas, Brother greets her and she responds "More invaders!!!"Snogmaul (Peter D.) some characters frightened: wail : Orestes, Crow and Ashlyn fall to the ground and are at 0 hit points, the rest of the party takes psychic dmgSnogmaul (Peter D.) dead badger on the wailSnogmaul (Peter D.) snogmaul casts black sheet between the party and the banshee so the party can no longer see her and then he runs; Orestes casts a web (dex save of 15) from the wand and then he leaves; Shade ran 90 feet and is passing all others with his speed; Crow went 45 feet out of the room; Vargas retreats with Lucius;Snogmaul (Peter D.) she goes charging through the dark sheet and the web; Vargas hits her with twin chromatic orbs for 11 pts of dmg; Vargas touched for 15 pts of dmg; Ashlyn tries to break frightened... and does not succeed she then makes a diving move through the web and looks into the next room cause the doors are ajar; the banshee takes a swing at Brother and misses and he fires magic missile for 9 pts and then healing word on Vargas for 7 pts; Crow second wind and gets 13 hp back (now at 16) and fires a +1 arrow for 9 pts of dmg; Snogmaul does holy water dmg of 4 pts to the banshee; Shade heals himself for 6 hp;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade fires a crossbow and hits her for 3 hp dmg; Orestes does fist of unbroken air and adds a chi point for (4d10 blugeoning) 20 pts of dmg and it is knocked back 20 feet and he moves back 35 feet; Vargas casts twin chromatic orbs of thunder for 27 pts of dmg; the banshee gives Vargas, Brother and Snogmaul the visage, Vargas is frighten and therefore at disadvantage; Ashlyn casts silence on herself and misses her save on being frightened; Brother shoots magic missiles for 12 hps of dmg and casts spiritual weapon and misses; Crow attacks with a +1 arrow for 10 pts dmg and she fades away!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Yeah!!! We beat her!!! Good job Crow!Snogmaul (Peter D.) brother lucius heals all players except Shade for 16 hpSnogmaul (Peter D.) short rest; inside circle? okay 1 hour of restSnogmaul (Peter D.) they all see Snogmaul pilfering junk; multiple failures on his partSnogmaul (Peter D.) in the Great Hall, dwarven full plate mail with axes, six on each side and two more in full plate on either side of the throne, all have tabards (spelling?); there are descicated bodies everywhere; the two on either side of the throne have burning something in their helms; there is space behind the great seat... we enter the hallSnogmaul (Peter D.) we enter the room; the armor does not move, Orestes moves to the first on the left... and what happens... Snogmaul checks for traps and when he gets within 5 feet the armor moves to ready position.Snogmaul (Peter D.) the great chair and 10 other chairs made of wood sitting around a table; and we walk past the table and the helms of the two turn to watch us, they turn their "heads" all the way around; the doors each have a large handle, bar inset in the door, four divots , elemental signet rings needed to open it???Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul knows there is a mechanical lock, Vargas knows there is elemental magic; the bar must change shape, the divots are simultaneous activationSnogmaul (Peter D.) loose elementals might have eaten all precious metals and gemsSnogmaul (Peter D.) the party has moved to the Elemental Hall via the water elemental archway: water reacts to our presence; Shade says we are not here to to hurt you; Orestes says we are here to visit, Brother Lucius "tests the waters" ... duh duh duhhhSnogmaul (Peter D.) all is fine, really... okay it is bad... the water smacks Brother Lucius for 16 hp damage and he is grappled and pulled into the water, the target is restrained and is drowning, Vargas hit with chromatic orb for 17 pts of dmg; and then 12 pts of dmg from Crow; Ashlyn hits for 8 pts of dmg and then tries to slap the water and misses; Brother Lucius tried to break free and did not; Snogmaul casts catapult and misses the water creature; Shade hits with a sword for 9 pts slashing dmg;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes casts fist of unbroken air and the creature takes 10 pts of dmg; and now it tries to constrict Lucius and takes 12 pts dmg and Brother goes unconsconsciousSnogmaul (Peter D.) Crow did 8 pts dmg to the creature; Vargas hits with Chromatic Orb of thunder for 17 pts dmg and the water is calm; we pull him out of the waterSnogmaul (Peter D.) we don't have time to continue; the next session resumesSession 6--2016.04.24Snogmaul (Peter D.) And so our adventure continues... the Elemental Hall has fresh air, fresh water, and it is pleasantly warm due to the various small fires in the room; don't forget about the nicely carved stonework. We proceed around the hall and enter near the earth elemental side.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow fires an arrow and misses; Snogmaul fires a bolt and hits for 15 pts of dmg to the crystal creature; Orestes force of wind and did 15 pts and was knocked 20 feet and prone the crystal creature; Drumbar moves back to the open archway; the crystal creature moves to Drumbar after getting back to its feet, 4 pts of dmg ot Drumbar; Drumbar swings and misses; Vargas twins thunder chromatic orb and misses bothSnogmaul (Peter D.) two of the guardian creatures sprout wings and flank our group and the third winged guardian to Drumbar; Snogmaul buffetted with a stone wing 5 pts dmg; Ashland takes 6 pts dmg; large statue misses Drumbar; Ashland misses with a bo staff and then does 7 pts dmg to a winged guardian; Brother Lucius attacks the guardian facing Ashland for 12 of force (magic missile); Aldan does dmg for 10 pts of eldritch blast; Shade attacks the middle one next to Drumbar and misses; Shade "action surges" and hits for 11 pts dmg and then a sweeping attack to the winged guardian and hits for 3 more pts; Crow attacks with his "great" sword and misses; Snogmaul disengages and bolts for 14 pts of dmg; Aldan misses; Orestes attacks guardian in the middle for 5 pts and then "slaps" the stone statue and misses; Drumbar does protection on Shade and hits the crystal creature for 10 pts with his axe; force attacks seem to be most effective;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crystal attacks Drumbar, raking attack and a maw for 7 pts dmg; Vargas fires a magic missile for 14 pts of dmg to crystal creature; a wing buffet and a tail on Orestes 8 dmg and 7 pts dmg; a stone wing smashes Crow 6 pts dmg; Moredan statue hits with a shield bash to Drumbar; Ashland hits for 5 pts dmg with his hand; Brother Lucius moves to Orestes and heals him for 11 pts "much better"; Shade attacks and hits for 11 dmg to the crystal and follows a sweeping attack on the Moredan and does not dmg; Crow attacks and misses; Snogmaul hurls an acid vial and misses; Aldan tries to "hex" and misses; Orestes misses his weapon attack and hand attack; Drumbar does "second wind" and then attacks and hits for 4 pts of dmg to the crystal creature; shards of crystal hit Drumbar for 7 pts of dmg; Vargas attacks and hits for 9 pts of dmg with a firebolt (fire does full dmg) and the crystal creature goes DOWN; Orestes takes 6 pts of dmg; spinning mace tail for 6 pts of dmg to Crow; Ashland gets hit for 7 pts dmg by a swinging mace tail; Moredan statue attacks Drumbar for 4 pts;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashland hit with a staff for 7 pts of dmg; Brother Lucius casts "bane" on the Moredan statue and the guardians near Ashland only affected only one guardian on Orestes; Shade attacks and misses! (rolled a 2); Crow attacks and misses; Snogmaul tries to put a guardian to "sleep" and it has more than 21 hit points still; Aldan misses; Orestes does a total 8 pts of dmg; Drumbar attacks Moredan and hits for 9 pts of dmg; Vargas attacks three bolts for 21 pts to the guardian next fo Ashland; Orestes is attacked and is missed; Crow is attacked and takes 14 pts of dmg and is "no longer nearly okay"; Drumbar is hit for 7 pts of dmg by Moredan; Brother Lucius heals Drumbar for 12 pts!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade attacks Moredan for 6 pts dmg and 7 pts; Crow does a "second wind" and then misses "guess I am done"; Snogmaul misses with alchemist's fire; Aldan misses; Orestes 13 pts dmg to a guardian; Drumbar hits the 9 pts to Moredan; Vargas casts chromatic orb (fire) and does not hit; guardian on Orestes misses; Moredan attacks hits Drumbar for 3 pts of dmg with a shield bash; a wing buffet 7 pts and a critical hit with a tail 13 pts to Crow (OUCH!)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashland takes a dodge action; Brother heals Crow; Shade hits the Moredan statue for 10 pts and attacks a second time and misses; Crow is dodging as his action; Snogmaul puts the guardian on Ashland to "sleep"; Aldan attacked the guardian on Crow for 12 pts of dmg; Orestes does 9 pts to the guardian in the middle next to Moredan; Drumbar hit 10 pts dmg on Moredan; Vargas attacks with twin chromatic orbs and wiffs (a 4 and 5 rolls - sigh); Moredan attacks and misses both on Drumbar; guardian hits with a wing buffet for 3 pts on Crow; Ashland leaves the sleeping guardian and hits for 9 pts of dmg to the guardian on Crow and Brother; Brother Lucius swings his mace and hits for 6 pts; Shade swings his sword at Moredan and misses then gets a "natural 1"; Crow misses and... nothing; Snogmaul missed with his last alchemists fire; Aldan misses; Orestes hits for 8 pts; Drumbar critical hits 5 pts with his battle axe on Moredan; Vargas casts Agannazar's Scorcher and does 22 pts of dmg to Moredan and the guardian took 11 pts of dmg; free attacks by Orestes and Shade and both do a little dmg; Moredan hits Vargas with a shield bash for 3 pts dmg; Vargas responds with a "hellish rebuke" and Moredan takes another 25 pts of dmg and Moredan goes down! Yeah!!! from the party.; Vargas "I run away!"; Crow takes 3 pts from a wing buffetSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashland tries to hit and misses both with his staff and foot; Brother uses his pearl of wisdom (to cast bless on Crow, Vargas and Aldan on Brother's next action); Shade hits for 9 pts of dmg to guardian; Crow misses; Snogmaul shoots a bolt for 16 pts of dmg; Orestes hits for 9 pts with a weapon and misses with his hand; Drumbar misses - oh; Vargas shoots a firebolt and misses due to being at disadvantage; the guardian hits with a wing buffet and then a critical hit with a tail for a total of 17 hp (down to 3 HP, "you're fine"); Crow is hit with a wing buffet for 5 pts and goes down; Brother Lucius is hit for 3 pts of dmg; Ashland hits for 4 pts of dmg and misses with his hand; Brother Lucius blesses Vargas, Aldan and Snogmaul;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade swings at guardian #2 and hits for 13 pts dmg; Snogmaul fires a bolt guardian #2 and it goes down! Another kill for Snogmaul!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Aldan did 10 pts of dmg to the last guardian; Orestes hits with his open hand for 4 pts dmg; Drumbar does dmg and kills the last guardian; We now coordinate for a final strike on the sleeping guardian; Aldan takes his hit for 14 pts dmg and the guardian wakes up; Orestes misses; and Drumbar attacks for 9 pts dmg; Vargas attacks with his last twin chromatic orb and hits for 22 pts dmg (it only had 3 points left) and down it goes! We are victorius?!?Snogmaul (Peter D.) We all get 13 pts of healing by Prayer of Healing Brother Lucius; and now for a LONG REST in the archives!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Most books are written in Dwarven with some Undercommon; we are doing research and resting for about 20 hours; Shade is looking for something "interesting" and finds something about "Rings of power," "clan leaders have rings"; Vargas is looking for the clan history and finds no new information with lots of trade info and the clan did not give fighting in trade; Crow is looking for info about opening the "secret door" and finds occassional questions in the common language texts but no answers; Ashland is searching for general info and is entertained with the other languages that are in the archives (rolled a 4) the dwarves did trade with Octax and the Drow; Brother Lucius is looking for info and/or ceremonial about the vault and he finds some notes the eternal guard whose chief mission is to secure the vault and there seems to be more than one guard, maybe the eternal guard cleared all valuables into the vault, also the lord of the guard "sleeps" in the chamber, the original Lord Barrigan is the general of the guard; Snogmaul is investigating for maps and finds LOTS of maps with notes about work that has been done on Undertower, there are maps/info on the various tower tiers and spokes (rolled a natural 20 +7 for investigation) - for game purposes the party will be able to come and research anytime info is needed, we will leave the maps here in the archive so that above grounders do not get their hands on the info. BE SURE TO READ THIS REGARDING MAPS researching in the future; with Snogmaul's "cartography skill" he will get a +5 to his investigating maps/geography of the Undertower areaSnogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes finds info about the Clan Barrigan dealing with Duergar, some in Barrigan did NOT like it; that line of business may have gotten cut off; there seems like the business went off the books or was discontinued; Barrigan also produced elementally enhanced weapons for the DuergarSnogmaul (Peter D.) debate among players as to continue in the hall of the elements or to search more of the area to see what is in there; do we want loot, the elementals are tough and we are not getting loot from it; the Barrigan rings are elemental control ring???; let's go explore... and so we change course midstream... (the sun is shining and the wind is at our backs... smooth sailing from here on out)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) We are heading down the rib, there is something a little different, dead dwarves in the banshee area have been moved/tossed them; we decide to go back to the Hall of Barriagan to see what is going on there now since things have changed in the last 20 hours; things do not seem to be changed here; something has tossed the bodies in the hallway; some characters look with dark vision and catch a glimpse of something in the ceiling corners - three grell!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes attacks #1 with fist of unbroken air and does 13 pts of dmg because the grell saved for half dmg; The grell grabs critically for 15 pts of dmg on Orestes and misses his con save and is paralyzed for 1 minute - target is grappled and restrained; "Monk for carry-out." Grell makes a grab and bite on the gnome and misses. Next grell hits Ashland for 9 pts dmg and makes his save and is not poisoned, but he is grappled and restrainedSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn tries to escape using dex and needed a DC15 and got an 18; Brother Lucius casts bane on all three / #2 and #3 miss their saves. ; Shade swings and misses uses action surge and hits #1 for 12 pts dmg; Drumbar attacks #1 and hits for 4 pts of dmg and then action surges for another 10 pts dmg; Crow hits #1 for 10 pts of dmg; Snogmaul does 14 pts of dmg to #1 and kills it; Orestes does not save, even with advantage, and is still paralyzed but luckily the one attacking him is dead; Snogmaul is attacked by grell #2 and takes 12 pts of dmg; Ashlyn takes a dodge; Brother Lucius shoots the wand of magic missile and does 12 pts of dmg to #2 and as a bonus action does healing word for 9 pts back for Snogmaul; Shade did 12 pts dmg to #2; Drumbar put protection on Snogmaul; Crow helps "Happy Meal" aka Snogmaul and hit the grell for 13 pts of dmg; Snogmaul disengages and fires a bolt for 11 pts of dmg; Orestes makes his save and is no longer paralyzed! ; #2 attacks Shade and misses and the other grell misses Ashlyn; Brother Lucius does 10 pts with magic missile; Shade swings his sword and misses; Drumbar attacks and hits with a 14 for 5 pts dmg and down it goes! Fresh #3 is attacked by Crow for 13 pts dmg and then action surges and hits for another 13 pts dmg; Snogmaul crits for 26 pts of dmg, but is not dead, "Nice try Killvulcher" says Dave; Orestes jarts for 6 pts of dmg. #3 tries to flee and Crow gets 1 pt dmg and down it goes! (Kyle "Now you will not find the nest.")</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Matt says, "So there is no treasure on this one either." Mark, "Let's get the gnome chipped the next time we go to the surface."Snogmaul (Peter D.) After our dinner break, we are going exploring... we feel small webs phasing in and phasing out on us; we keep going. Exploring ahead are Snogmaul, Ashlyn, and Crow and are caught in webs. Brother, Orestes, Drumbar, and Shade are attacked from behind by phase spider, three in number. Snogmaul breaks free and says in Drow, "Flee or be food. You will be eaten." The spiders are size large. Shade does 13 pts dmg to spider on Orestes. 7 pts of dmg by Orestes. Crow frees himself from the web and moves to the action and then attacks the spider on Orestes and misses. Drumbar attacks and misses. Brother Lucius fires a magic missile for 11 pts dmg to the spider attacking Orestes. Ashlyn is totally "upset" that he was unable to break free using acrobatics. The spider on Drumbar is attacked and poisoned for 23 pts dmg total. And then all the spiders phase out.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul hands off a vial of anti-toxin to Drumbar. Shade and Orestes ready for an attack. Drumbar drinks the vial of anti-toxin. Brother readies an action. Ashlyn breaks out of the web. She grabs a shirken. Snogmaul gets ready for an attack. Crow drinks his anti-toxin and moves next to Ashlyn. After some time the spiders do not return.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius heals Drumbar for 12 pts of healing. The party continues on, having two people drank anti-toxin. We seem to approaching a lair area more. We are burning webs with torches as we go. The spiders reappear. Two spiders reappear. One on Drumbar and one Shade. Drumbar takes a bite 9 pts and poison for 5 pts. Snogmaul fires a bolt and misses. Shade hits the spider with a sword for 7 pts of dmg. Orestes hits for 5 pts of dmg and 4 pts with his open hand. Crow swings and misses with a 1 (Matt "We might have to kick you out of the group.") Drumbar attacks for 3 pts of dmg and action surges for another 5 pts of dmg to the spider that is attacking him. Brother Lucius does 9 pts of dmg to the spider on Shade, using a magic missile. Ashlyn does 9 pts of dmg to the spider on Shade. The spider attacks Drumbar for 29 pts of dmg of bite and poison. The poison dmg causes the victim to be stable and paralyzed but poisoned for 1 hour. The spider on Drumbar phased out . A spider attacks Shade and responds with his own attack for 9 pts dmg and the spider is killed.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother casts protection from poison on Drumbar and the poison is counteracted. Channel divinity is then cast on Drumbar. He is up to 15 hit points.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We keep going. We find a private residence that is their lair. There is loot. We do a thorough search and find: fragments of scrolls, loose silver and gold coins, bone dice, trade gems, silver dice, opal locket, ivory frame, silver figure of Moredan, ivory goblet with a hollow stem which can have poison or a potion inside and two potions (healing and climbing) from adventurers, miners, and other bodies. Searching takes about an hour.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We start sweeping - room to room, more evidence of horrific battles. We are looking for the grell lair in particular. We see a residence that has a wooden staircase that has been smashed. Heavy stone blocks were dropped on the steps until they were fully smashed. Orestes changes form and increases in size to 8 feet tall. Orestes "delivers" the gnome to the second story. Orestes climbs up himself. A bunch of people have been munched and are rotting and there is grell crap. We find: a scroll of hold monster in scroll case, crystal bead of force that hums/vibrates, a chime of opening (it sings), the chime and bead were on the same (elf?) body, five 100 gp trade gems, 700 sp, 110 gold, 24 pp, Climb back down.Snogmaul (Peter D.) short rest: Yeah! much rejoicing! some hit points come back; check the rest of the estate, takes six hours, nothing new; we have the two elemental areas left and the vaultSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul using mage hand attempts to remove a "elemental fire" ember/coal; a fire face appears, dancing flames, magma flowing; multiple heads dancing like flames; Snogmaul returns the coal; the faces remain about a dozen of them; after a few minutes things return to "normal"; we move to the air area, we are in the hallway; actually it seems quite pleasant; Snogmaul uses mage hand to try and catch some air from the whirlwind; the vial is yanked out of the mage hand; Brother Lucius tries to talk to the wind; time for monk-dash and grab by Ashlyn, swapping the locket for the vial; Ashlyn tosses the locket, misses the vial, and the wind picks up and hurls 20 feet (9 pts dmg) and thrown clear towards the water area; Matt "That plan did not work."Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade tries to do the above; DC 13 strength save and does not get picked up by the whirlwind; he is buffetted by the wind, Shade is hit by a locket; he is able to get "air" and cap the vial; the whirlwind follows him into the hallwaySnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn attempts to hit the air but misses; the air picks-up Orestes and he takes 17 pts dmg and takes is flung toward Ashlyn and the two monks collide and they each take 2 pts dmg and they are knocked prone. Shade is hit with force, 20 pts and then additional 24 pts; Shade gets to make a "death" save and makes it; Brother Lucius tries to pull Shade away and the air elemental does not respond, Drumbar backs away along with other party members; we return to the "banshee room"; Brother Lucius heals Shade for 11 pts.Snogmaul (Peter D.) get XP = .45 of the level; we are now LEVEL 3.9... that means we are assured of 4th level next session!?!Snogmaul (Peter D.) good night :wink:Loyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) At the _end_ of next session, unless the GM takes pity on you.GM (Kyle B.) Nope. No way I'm holding up the session for people to level up. Nope nope nope. This is why xp is only done at session end. You can level up on your own time.Session 7--2016.05.07Snogmaul (Peter D.) we search the library for "elemental info"; binding or pact (agreement) can influence the will of the elemental; least mobile elementals are air and earth; plaza of elementals are there by agreement, they own their part of the Plaza of the Elements; documents seem inaccurate as to the layout due to the age of the documents; info found by Orestes (rolled 15 to investigate); the construction docs said that there was an actual Earth Elemental, but is no longer thereSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul picks up a Elemental coal with mage hand and passes the coal to Ashlyn who is holding a stone bowl; a number of fire elementals come to life in various containers in the Plaza; hydra heads blow puffs of flame; Snogmaul feels that if he had been actually holding the coal there would have been "badness"; Ashlyn gets away with the bowl; Snogmaul follows close on her heals; the others are keeping a safe distanceSnogmaul (Peter D.) We are now going to try to get the last element, air. Brother Lucius casts Guidance on Snogmaul; Crow is going to try and fill a vial and his lungs with "air", a strength check and he holds on to the vial; another strength check missed by Crow, tossed around in the air and flung away, Crow is flung into the earth elemental area and thrown clear (takes 12 pts from bouncing around in the air and 2 pts for hitting a wall); Crow and Snogmaul head to Barragan Hall; Brother Lucius heals Crow for 10 pts; Crow breathes into a second vial emptying his lungs of elemental air; in the Hall Barragan, Brother Lucius is placing earth in the key hole, Snogmaul is placing the fire in the key hole, Crow is placing the air, Orestes is placing the water; all the elements disappear and a cracking noise is heard; Orestes goes to the handle and pulls the door open, the "armor" people turn and watch usSnogmaul (Peter D.) the door is very heavy and the lock actually activates the counter-weight system; the inside is not lit, there are ornate resting places for the dead, strong boxes, lying on top of each of the resting places is a suit of armor; there are seven resting places, the suits vary in appearance, four are more ceremonial armor, nobles robes of silk; the suits of armor do not look occupied; the resting places are coffins; two have full armor; two have faces; robe set also has a silver death mask; the robes are on a framework to make the robes look nice; the counter weight mechanism is not visible; looks more like a store room except for ornate armor; respect the dead like they are valuable; a 40 x 60 foot room; ornate robe sarcophagus is at the end of the room opposite the door; the strong boxes are sitting between the sarcophagi; the robes do not seem to indicate religion according to Brother Lucius; there is a circlet on the robes; there are no decorations in the room; the sarcophagi are just stone boxes; Brother Lucius tries to talk the spirits into letting us take their stuff (gets a 7); Orestes tries to open the strong box just inside the door and to the right, neatly organized set of smaller boxes and bags, he removes one of the boxes and inside are neatly stacked 100 platinum pieces; another with 100 gp; the coins are more like ingots (non-realm specific); same value as a coin but unmarked; six boxes in total; the strong boxes are untrapped as the vault is the security device; a small boxes holding ten 100 pg trade gems;Snogmaul (Peter D.) there are a total of six strong boxes in the room; the bags have loose coins and gems in them; not enough to fill one of the smaller boxes; nothing less than gold coins in the room; the first strong box has about 5000 gp worth of treasure; this looks like more of a bank vault than personal possessions those entombed here; Orestes puts the boxes back in the strong box; Snogmaul pulls a weasel out of the bag and then empty a bag except for 1 gp and tie the bag to the weasel; Snogmaul then tells the weasel to leave the main hall; a fire wall erupts and fries the weasel (20 pts dmg); right before the wall of fire went up a suit of armor raises a hand and up goes the flame, only Snogmaul saw the "armor" move; the wall of fire remained for 1 minute and a small spot of molten gold remainsSnogmaul (Peter D.) the four ornamental armors are representative of the four elementals; Crow lifts the deathmask of the "fire" ornamental armor... and all hell breaks looseSnogmaul (Peter D.) fire hits Crow, Orestes and Snogmaul, 8 pts dmg to Crow and Snogmaul and 4 pts to Orestes. The the "armor" jumps to its feet; Snogmaul fires a bolt and misses; air armor sends a roaring wind toward the exit, movement is affected 1/2 or 2x depending on direction of movement; the water armor sends hail, icy floor, all miss except Ashlyn, 14 pts dmg for fail and 7 for save; failed: Snogmaul, Orestes and Crow are down and were blown out of the room; the last ornamental armor of earth covers itself in rock and gets ready for battle; Orestes fails his first death save; Ashlyn moves to a strong box, takes a money box and leaves the vault; Shade goes to strong box and takes a random money box; the two heavy armors get up and move toward Shade and Ashlyn; the "robe and circlet" points out the door and hisses "Return!"; Ashlyn misses the the save and is frightened and paralyzed. Brother moves out the room and gives hps all around using Channel Divinity and Disciple of Life; blast of fire to hit Ashlyn and Shade and Shade is back down and Ashlyn takes 7 hp dmg but is still up; Snogmaul runs through the Hall toward the far exit and gets within 50 feet of the exit; the "air" armor continues the air blast; the "water" armor takes back the money box from Shade; the "earth" armor takes a swipe at Ashlyn and hits her for a crit of 8 hp dmg and goes down; Orestes moves away and does not attack and drinks his potion of healing, 8 hp recovered; Ashlyn misses death save; Shade fails his death save and gets two failed death saves; robed and circlet (with a smell of death/decay) and... ; Brother Lucius cure wounds on Shade for 12 hp and directs "get out of here now"; Brother does healing word on Ashlyn and she is up to 7 hp; Aaaaah!Snogmaul (Peter D.) The armor suits return to the vault room. The armor suits may be using the elemental rings.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The vault door closes! And we are all "just fine."Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius engages in a Prayer of Healing. Each character gets 14 hp back.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We try to return to the surface and to town. We are heading down the spoke and we all hear scuttling bones/shells ahead in the hall. Snogmaul scouts ahead and sees an armored bug with a tentacle face (size large). And Snogmaul sends a message to Crow about what he saw. We are ready when it shows up. The creature has a carrying sack on its back. Snogmaul fires a bolt for 6 hp of dmg. Land Lobster engages Crow and Shade. Ashlyn hits with a staff for 11 pts of dmg and then kicks for another 5 pts of dmg. Orestes does fist of air for 4 pts of dmg. Shade swings his long sword and misses and then action surges for 6 pts of dmg. Crow gets a critical for 15 pts of dmg. Brother Lucius magic missiles for 9 pts. Snogmaul shoots a bolt for 13 pts of dmg. Orestes hits with an unarmed strike for 5 pts of dmg. Lobster hits Crow for 14 pts of dmg with a claw and is grappled, now the poison tentacles try to get him; Shade is attacked by the other pincer; Shade ripoiste for 9 pts dmg. (82 pts of dmg so far) Ashlyn swings a staff and crits for 12 pts and spin kick for 4 hps of dmg. Shade attacks and does 12 hp of dmg and down goes the monster. The "backpack" contains a scroll case and ring. The creature is known as a "Chuul." Ring is of Evasion and the scroll is Lesser Restoration. Both items go to Brother Lucius.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We get back to town!Snogmaul (Peter D.) We sell off un-needed items and buy stuff we need, healing potions, etc. Snogmaul turns over 15 gp to the guild; the guild is "okay" with this. The church also got money towards the resurrection fund. Current value: 1758 gpSnogmaul (Peter D.) We check the job boards. Two postings look interesting. One is guard duty back to the Burning City, 100 gp per person. The second job is to meet at the 3 Pace Pavillion, provide protection during treasure analysis, pay 3000 gp.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Gruat... waiting for him. Apparently Gruat is a gnome and has "his table." He is flanked by couple Orogs. One has charms and bones and is missing an eye. Gruat asks about our experience. We tell them we went to level 7; got there via the mining coming. Gruat does not go down into Undertower anymore. Gruat says that he needs coverage for extra-planar event, no risk - no reward. Now Gruat is wanting to fence items.Snogmaul (Peter D.) head to the eastern entrance, three tents in; going to meet Gruat for the job; Orogs are making bets on us? 3:1 odds on us surviving; 30 ft across with a magic circle (10 ft diameter) of protection; "be ready" says Gruat; he reads various scrolls and books and takes short rests; then analyzes and thinks about what he has read; don't worry about magic... summoned creatures, you should worry; "Be ready"; smoke comes up, center of circle fills; been here an hours so far; scroll... bone and skin??? - blue flash... another spell/counter spell; black wand... magical darkness; Gruat continues even though the darkness has not dispelled; checking out a ring... poof and some heat... just a fire trap... last one; magic flask... obsidian flask... "ow!" then a thump on the tent; Gruat is still in the center of the tent, something hit the tent wall; Gruat says "Do not take the lid off the bottle."; Ashlyn "The cap is off the bottle! Repeat, the cap is off the bottle!" Creature attacks Ashlyn and misses. Ashlyn misses and then uses dodge. Snogmaul fires a bolt and does 7 pts dmg. Crow gets attacked by a second creature and takes 4 pts necrotic dmg and Strength reduced by 3; Snogmaul is hit by a third creature for 8 pts dmg and lost 1 pt of Strength; Orestes misses with a dart; Orestes hears a laugh next to him and then psychic dmg for 13 pts dmg; Crow rolls a 1 to hit; Shade hits for 8 dmg and yells "get your wallets out" to the Orogs; Brother Lucius tries to turn the undead (shadows?), wisdom saving throw for the creatures and 3 leave the tent; the laughing voice is still around; Ashlyn swings her staff and hits for 9 pts of dmg then follows with a flurry of blows and does 5 pts of dmg; Snogmaul fires yet another bolt for 4 pts of dmg; Orestes uses fist of unbroken air and the creature takes 13 pts and the creature is knocked prone; the creature attacks Orestes for 18 pts dmg to his soul; Crow attacks the laughing using his action surge to close the distance and then hits for 6 pts dmg; Shade moves and misses; Brother Lucius casts bless(target adds d4 to attack rolls) Crow and Shade and Ashlyn and then moves toward Orestes; Ashlyn swings her staff (19 even with dmg) for 5 pts dmg then a flurry of blows and does 6 pts dmg and then another 4 pts dmg; Snogmaul fires a bolt and misses; the creature attacks Ashlyn and takes (Kyle cringes) 25 pts dmg; Crow attacks and misses; Shade attacks and misses then action surges and hits for 10 pts dmg; Brother Lucius 14 hp healed on Orestes; Gruat holds up a gem and now we have light! - - - Ashlyn makes first death save; Snogmaul fires and misses; Orestes does 6 pts dmg and 3 pts dmg; Creature attacks Orestes for 11 pts dmg... and he is still up - yeah!; Crow attacks with inspiration and misses - sadness; Shade attacks with his sword and hits for 9 pts of dmg; Brother Lucius heals Ashlyn; now Ashlyn uses inspiration and hits 5 pts dmg and then unarmed attacks and misses; Snogmaul fires and hits for 11 pts dmg; Orestes hits for 7 and 6 pts dmg; Creature attacks Orestes and he goes down; Crow attacks for 11 pts dmg; Shade attacks and hits for 8 dmg using his long sword; Brother gives Orestes a potion and heals 7 pts; Ashlyn does 9 pts dmg with bo-staff; Snogmaul does 19 pts dmg and down the creature goes. (the creature is a shadow demon and they can command shadows). Oooh! Scary!Snogmaul (Peter D.) We get paid... its all there.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Gruat takes Crow to the "Scavengers' Market" - it is also open thieves guild membersSnogmaul (Peter D.) Experience: 15% for Shadow Demon and friends; chuul encounter 5%; solving the puzzle and getting into the vault 5%; surviving the vault 5%; surviving the Plaza of the Elements 5% = 35% of the next level - - - - we are now level 4.25GM (Kyle B.) note -- it was 5% for solving the vault entry, and 5% for surviving the vault (not 5% twice for getting in)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) changes made to experience posting above; it is now correct; pardon my mistakeSnogmaul (Peter D.) characters present for this session of Westmarch: Shade, Brother Lucius, Crow, Ashlyn and SnogmaulSnogmaul (Peter D.) Lucius heads to the Temple to perform "sacred rights" - checks with temple staff to see if there are any Barrigans around or known - speaks to the war forged about keeping records going forward - organization of church actions - currently worshipers take care of their faith and shrines only; there are a couple priests of Moradin; Lucius already has the genealogy records in his possession from Undertower - Lucius lets the warforged know that some shadows may have gotten out, warforged thinks that three shadows would not be a big threat; warforged also thinks that many in the "flock" do not want to give out info; they agree to collect records on only those that willingly give out info, maybe have a consistent acolyte assigned to this duty, but it will cost, we could start with 100gp, Lucius agrees and hands over 100 gp; the warforged says that there was an old record keeping system which included warforged scribes; we should look for a warforged archivist/scribe in UndertowerSnogmaul (Peter D.) Info: tier 1 is populated and restored; tier 2 is only partially restored; Small Boy is only slightly larger than an ogre; there is a tavern and inn there, name The Hole; it has a secret back exit to the surface; and The Hole is a known Guild hangout; non-guild members have a good chance of being knifedSnogmaul (Peter D.) Shade heads to The HoleSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn is at the Gilded Garden, sipping a light and fruity drink, and she notices that there is always soft music playing, a small breeze blows and rustles the leaves of the plants masking the sound of quiet conversations; (perception check, 20) and Ashlyn notices a conversation going on at an adjoining table - money is being discussed, "He and his boys should be here in two days. And then we can close the deal... (and then more in another language that Ashlyn cannot understand); the talkers are human, one an older woman who had been at House Marvad, She asked "What about the other three?" the other talker was a younger elf, could be an attendant here, the elf then turned into a dwarf as he walked out of the GardenSnogmaul (Peter D.) Crow and Snogmaul hang out at Three Pace Pavillion; Steel-Hawk shows up; he tells us the regular bartender and other servers/workers (Corlanders) have been missing for a week; the Corlanders half-elf and humans, some of the first to get here, Bill and Sally; Bill is the bartender a couple times a week; deals go down here, lots of money changes, food and gambling; Steel-Hawk leaves believing we will investigate the missing persons caseSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul and Ashlyn head to The Hole to see if they can find out about what is going on; Shade and Kruug (HR for the guild) are playing cards; Ashlyn offers a dice game and coin; Kruug asks Snogmaul for maps; Snogmaul will "get right on it"; Ashlyn cheats at the normal level as everyone does; uses dice he got from Undertower, using slight of hand vs perception for all players; Shade also plays; Kruug and Shade caught cheating by Ashlyn so Ashlyn wins a total of 7 gp; Kruug says that he will find out if there is a sanctioned kidnappings; reply comes back with "killings were given approval, but nothing else"; do not let the Corlander family know about the hits; word comes through Shade; more info... the hits are being done by an out-of-townerSnogmaul (Peter D.) we convene at Three Pace, after some discussion, Snogmaul gets Lucius so that he can join the discussion with the rest of the group; total of family members is about 20; the family lives in town; the motivation of behind the assassinations seems to be the profitability of Three Pace; most likely somebody wants to acquire the businessSnogmaul (Peter D.) Lucius questions Small Boy; he is worried about losing his job because The Hammer sisters are coming; the Corlanders would not hire them, Bill is not here for Small Boy to tell; Sisters may be an ettin; WE do not know who is paying the SistersSnogmaul (Peter D.) the party has a lengthy discussion about our next move; then Brother Lucius lets Small Boy know that we are willing to help him defeat the Hammer Sisters; Small Boy is not wanting to leave the bar; Crow takes over the conversation, it still goes nowhere fast; finally Small Boy is going to wait until night when Crow comes to get himSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul does some investigation and finds out that there will not likely be a caravan in the next couple days; the whole big thing is not a House Talx but it is more likely a play by House Marvad because taking the tavern is likely a business move that will net them huge political power they have not known beforeSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn comes back with a new plan, it is theater to convince the Corlanders to willingly give up Three Pace and Small Boy gets to keep his job and the Corlanders get to live (not be assassinated); Ashlyn talked to some contact only she knows; likely the contact is the woman connected to House Marvad that Ashlyn saw at the Gilded Garden; (her name may be Sylvia)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn goes to Three Pace to let the party know that "theater" takes place at 3rd bell (third hour after dawn)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn has a secret whispered conversation with KruugAshlyn (Matt M.) shhhSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul casts non-detection on himself and pulls a panther out of the bag of tricks; the party then goes to the Corlanders' residence; the family does not seem to have prepared for an attack; there is a small decorative garden; there is an empty horse stall; there is small child or a gnome pulling weeds in the garden; the human child says "Hi" Lucius questions if there is somebody available; the child responds that grandpa is upstairs; the child goes to get grandpa; Ashlyn says, "I should have mentioned that the assassin is a shape shifter." Crow sticks his head in and says "Hello?" A woman responds and Crow gets rebuffed. The woman says she is busy. Lucius calls in. He says that we are here to find out if the family is okay. The voice is not convincing. Crow leads with Snogmaul taking up the end. The woman is cooking vegetables. She yells for "Pa." Crow tries to convince her that there is real threat. Snogmaul moves toward the door. We all leave under the aim of Pa with a loaded crossbow.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow looks around the outside. In the animal stall he finds a the corpse of the small boy. We then rush back in. The old man is fighting with a short sword against a werecreature that has claws and scimitar. The woman is slumped in a corner. Some party members realize the scimitar is poisoned. We rolled initiative. Starts with Shade and ends with Lucius. Shade attacks with his sword for 6 pts dmg and does no damage. The short sword, the old man's weapon. seems to be able to harm the creature. Ashlyn tries to run past the creature and strikes past and tries to attack and hits and does no damage. She gets to the mother and pulls out a potion of healing.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The creature attacks the old guy. Missed twice. Crow drops his sword and get his bow. He misses with a 1! Uses his action surge to attack with advantage and gets a critical (natural 20) with a +1 arrow for 15 pts damage. Snogmaul casts blindness and the creature fails. It is now blinded! Snogmaul yells for the old man to get out. Brother Lucius cast bane and the creature fails takes a d4 off all rolls for 1 minute. Brother Lucius goes to the woman and casts healing word and bestows 7 hp. She is stabilized. The old guy does not leave and attacks and hits for 6 dmg. Shade looks for something silver to attack with in the kitchen (finds a silver carving knife = silver dagger). Ashlyn gives the woman a healing potion and she gets back 8 hp and she is at full. The woman is looking for Sam and Ashlyn takes her out the back door. The creature lashes out and misses. Crow launches another arrow and hits 8 pts damage. Snogmaul fires a silver crossbow bolt and does 12 pts dmg. Lucius fired magic missile and did 9 pts damage. Shade does 8 pts dmg with the silver kitchen knife. Ashlyn tries to keep the mom calm while they are outside. She questions, "Where's Sam?" Ashlyn answers, "We don't know." She believes him.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The creature shakes off the blindness after missing attacks. The old man attacked the creature for 10 pts dmg. Crow fires his last magic arrow. He hits for 5 pts dmg. Snogmaul fires another silver bolt and does 7 pts dmg. Lucius does 10 pts of dmg with magic missile. Shade uses the knife to do 9 pts dmg and down it goes! Thud!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade tries to buy the kitchen knife for 4 gp. Pa is outraged and demands to see the grandson. Ashlyn then explains that the grandson is dead. He asks, "Why are they trying to kill us?" Ash and Crow say that the others want the bar. They discuss what the others want and why. Again he asks, "Who are they?" Ashlyn says that she "does not know." Ashlyn says that we were following a tip from someone who noticed the family members were not at work. The Pa is not happy. "House Marvad made an offer and we rejected it," says Pa. He goes on to say, "They bit off more than they can chew. I am no small time operator." Ash offers to help try and bring the boy back to life if he has the heart of a hero. Pa directs Alicia to get her things and puts a plan into action. Pa strikes a deal with Lucius to take care of the bar. Pa, known as Garros, gives a strong box with half a year's pay for the bar staff. Garros is keeping ownership and giving management to Lucius until he can come back. Garros will send messages to the bar. Garros wants the creature to be left so that he can examine it. The box contains 500 pp. We are again asked to leave.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We can use the profits as we see fit, even for ourselves. The creature had some sort of hat that disguised it (gnome made?). He gives the party a bag with two 1000gp trade gems, a +1 scimitar, and Vial of Viper Poison.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Sam is taken to the All Faiths' Temple. He cannot be brought back. The temple staff will take care of burial rites. We then head to Three Paces.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Carl, aka Goodnight, the bartender is on duty. Small Boy offers to get us drinks. Lucius lets Carl know that Garros is leaving town and he is now in charge. Lucius shows the letter and the strong box as proof. Carl says that we get paid weekly on Sundays. Nightly the profits are to be taken to All Faiths'. Small Boy can just barely read the letter of proof of new management. Small Boy is the person that takes the nightly profits to deposit. The three bar keeps meet on Sundays to sort out the weekly logistics.Snogmaul (Peter D.) It is getting to evening and guests are arriving for their evening meal. A commotion arises in the street.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul prepares to coat three bolts with common poison. Brother Lucius takes a peek outside and he sees an enormous two headed giant with orogs at her side. One of the flaps gets ripped open and they enter! Snogmaul poisons the arrows. Small Boy now has "his little people." SEVEN orogs! and the Hammer Sisters!Snogmaul (Peter D.) The ettin smashes a table for effect. Snogmaul casts catapult and sends a beer mug at the first orog for 8 pts of dmg. Crow shoots at the ettin for 9 pts with his arrow. Brother Lucius uses magic missile wand for 15 pts dmg to orog #1. Small Boy swings and hits the Sisters twice for 13 and 19 pts of dmg with his club. Ashlyn swings her bo-staff for 6 pts of dmg and then moves five feet away. The Sisters go. They are attacking Small Boy and hit twice for 32 pts of damage. Shade runs up and attacks orog #1 using his newly acquired scimitar for 9 pts and then using a sweep attack for 6 more pts to orog #2. The orog attacks with a great axe and hits twice for a total of 12 pts damage to Shade. Orog # 2 attacks and attacks. Shade repoiste attacks and hits. Orog #2 misses his second attack. Orog #3 hits Crow. And ogog #4 hits Lucius. #5 orog misses Snogmaul. #6 attacks twice Ashlyn for 11 pts dmg. #7 orog hits Small Boy for 22 pts dmg.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Panther attacks # 5 for 8 pts. Snogmaul does 15 pts dmg to orog #1 and it is really hurt. Crow swings his great sword for 13 pts dmg to orog #3. And he uses action surge to hit again for another 14 pts dmg. Brother Lucius moves and then gives 13 hp to Small Boy. Who then hits the Sisters twice for 22 pts. Ashlyn does step of the wind and disengages move past Hammer Sisters and then moves to the edge of the tent. Bo-staff of dmg of 5 to Sisters. The Sister attack Small Boy for a critical hit for 24 pts dmg. Shade takes a slice at orog #1 and misses and uses a supeority attack and misses again. Then he action surges for total failure. 8 pts of dmg to Crow. An orog runs to Ashlyn and misses. The panther takes 12 pts dmg and has 1 hp left. An orog attacks twice and takes 28 pts dmg.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The panther misses as does Snogmaul's catapult spell. He then moves another 30 feet back. Small Boy is up to 23 HP after being healed by Brother Lucius. Then he uses healing word on Small Boy for another 12 hp for a total of 35 HP! Aah! Small Boy hits twice for 31 pts dmg to the ettin. The Sisters are hurtin'! Ashlyn does a bo-staff attack on the Sister for 7 pts dmg and uses advantage to hand attack for 7 pts dmg! DOWN SHE GOES!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn moved 55 feet. Shade attacks #1 and it goes down (only 2 hp left). Shade says, "I have to kill them all."Snogmaul (Peter D.) Orog yells, "Get the giant!" Orog #3 hits Crow for 12 pts dmg and the second attack misses. Orog #4 runs toward Small Boy. An orog kills the panther and moves 20 toward Snogmaul. An orog swings at Lucius for 10 pts dmg. An orog attacks Small Boy hitting twice for 22 pts total dmg. Snogmaul fires a poison bolt and misses. Crow hits for 7 pts of dmg to #3 and then heals himself.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Lucius casts bane on four orogs and they suffer -d4 when attacking and saving. Small Boy misses his two attacks. Ashlyn looks to see which orog is hurt and they are both fine. Ashlyn runs to save Shade and attacks orog #2 and misses. Now Shade attacks and hits #2 for 10 pts dmg. and it is hurt. Shade second winds. Shade is hit for 7 pts dmg. An orog swings at Crow and he takes 11 pts dmg. Orog #4 and moves to attack Small Boy and misses. And the orog chasing Snogmaul takes out a crossbow. Small Boy gets attacked critically for only takes 9 pts dmg. He has only 4 HP left.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul moves away, hides for 3/4 cover and casts blur on himself. Crow does takes down orog #3! Yeah! He then moves toward brother Lucius who passes Crow a healing potion. Brother does an empowered cure wounds on Small Boy and heals him for 14 hp. Small Boy attacks orog #7 for 9 pts dmg and then misses his second swing. Ashlyn swings and misses then uses martial arts to attack for 4 pts dmg to #7. Shade attacks #2 for 11 pts dmg and it is almost down. And then Shade says "Remember me?" to the orog. The orog misses his attacks on Shade. #4 orog attacks Small Boy. And Boy is not killed but takes 7 pts dmg. The orog misses Snogmaul with the crossbow. Small Boy is still up as the hit missed. Now #7 is hit once for 9 pts. He has 2 HP left.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul pulls a weasel out of the bag. The weasel moves toward the orog. Lucius fires a magic missile and does 10 pts dmg to #7 and then Small Boy finishes him off. Small Boy just smashes #6. Ashlyn misses both. Shade attacks #6 orog and hits for 10 pts dmg. And orog #4 attacks and hits for 6 pts dmg on Small Boy. The orog misses Snogmaul with a crossbow bolt. Small Boy is hit and is down to 1 HP. Oh no, again!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul pulls a giant rat out of the bag. And it is sent on its way to the orog. Ashlyn, Crow and Shade get a "bless" so they get +1d4 to attack rolls. Small Boy attacks for 16 pts and the lead orog goes down. The little orog is missed is by Small Boy. Ashlyn attacks with his staff and hits for 7 pts. Shade swings his magical scimitar and with the blessing hits for 11 pts dmg to the second to last orog. It hits Small Boy and he goes down (weeping). Snogmaul misses his bolt shot... as does the rat. Small Boy is stabilized by Brother Lucius. Ashlyn does flurry of blows and also his bo-staff. He does a total of 15 pts of dmg and down he goes!!! Shade fires his light crossbow and gets a hit. Shade does 5 pts of dmg to the remaining orog. Orog does a quick assessment of the situation and he switches back to his axe as he runs back toward the main battle area. Snogmaul misses with his bolt. Brother heals Small Boy and then Small Boy does 15 pts dmg. Ashlyn uses his bo-staff and uses flurry of blows and does a total 10 pts total. The last orog goes down!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) We check over / gather equipment from the orogs. They are wearing uniforms with insignias ripped off. There are 100 pp in total. The ettin was carrying one 1000 gp trade gem. Small Boy displays the Sisters heads for all to see who enter the Pavillion.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Experience: 5% for handling the quest and assassination plot, 20% for the Hammer Sisters' fight, 10% for roleplay, 10% for weretiger assassin = 45% total; we are now level 4.70Snogmaul (Peter D.) And so ends the session!.Session 8--2016.07.09Snogmaul (Peter D.) New Session Begins... What is in store for the party?Snogmaul (Peter D.) back track; twelve members of the Corlander family are still unaccounted for; we know that two left town; Ashlyn arranged for guild "okay" with us "helping" to prevent the assassination of the entire familySnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul will be mapping the Terryton as time allows, uses a measured rope to keep accurate records; building sizes and relative locationsSnogmaul (Peter D.) Lucius would like to locate a Barrigan heir to get loot in the vault and help Barrigans re-establish themselves in Undertowner; Ashlyn wants to wait until we see what the heir is like before embarking on the plan; Ash and Lucius have "insight" about the Riven - groups some do not want to come back while others want to come back and some of those even are actively working to come back; best bet would be to find second generation that wants to get back to where his family came from, this type of heir might be more willing to share; somebody in first generation might be willing to share but would not want to go in the vault, so they share in contents for sharing info; Lucius would also like to use the House Barrigan would be a good base of operations for Undertower; "feels like a long shot" due to all the "if this" and "if that" happens in the correct orderSnogmaul (Peter D.) Adament Mining Company; spokes 3, 4, 5 down to tier 7; they guard to control access to the outer areas where their mining operations; Lucius is considering also if the Mining Company might have an interest in the area of the Barrigan ManorSnogmaul (Peter D.) The Anvil produces items, craftsmen area; BarterFaire is where trading items for items is done; Bazarre of Wonders is a sub-area of BarterFaire; Ashlyn is looking for a magic quarter-staff or someone who can make one; Ashlyn finds a shop where bows and staves are being sold, interesting cause not much wood in this area; the half-elf owner is working on oiling a bow, preferred missile weapon is crossbows in this area; Ashlyn speaks in Elvish to the shop owner; he inquires about getting an enchanted staff; owner says that it can be done but some materials are hard to come by, would need iron-wood or the wood of oak that is at least a century and the tree has to give permission; the wood must be in the raw form; it will take some time to take it to the master and at least two weeks; there is a master crafted staff (superior quality, +1 to hit/dmg in game terms); price tag 100 GP and Ashlyn agrees to the deal; "there is an alchemist in the Barter Area, named Darien at the Red Flask; the owner is looking a source of special woodSnogmaul (Peter D.) halfling owner wants mithril, adamantine, or iron wood; shop name is "Small Sharp Things"; the best stuff is done by somebody else, he also makes some items; Snogmaul buys a hand crossbow of quality (+1 to hit and dmg) but it is not magical; Snogmaul noticed owner has a thieves guild signSnogmaul (Peter D.) Shade is learning the Dwarven languageSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn goes to the Red Flask (alchemist shop) in Barter Faire; there is heavy security in this part of town maybe even a golem guard, some people are just looking at all the "wonders"; the Red Flask is run by a gnome known as Darien; Ashlyn asks for resistance to heat/cold/etc; shopkeep responds that invulnerability would do it; Ashlyn shows a "bead of force"; Ashlyn trades bead of force for one potion of invulnerability; two oils of "enchantment" (makes the weapon "magical" but no + to hit/dmg) and two potions of healing; Crow also buys some enchantment oil and potions of healing; the alchemist asks Crow if our party would be interested in work... somebody has inquired in a "manual of flesh golems"; the person that has it may not be too skilled and this may lead to problems... acolyte of orcus(?), he tries to use the manual and then the golem goes on a rampage; the golem will need a group to take it on; INFO old burial ground to the south but we want the New burial ground; the acolyte may be collecting parts from the burial ground, likely the acolyte is near by the grounds, the "sources" have not reported in lately, no-one will be upset if we take out the acolyteSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn goes to Gilded Garden and sends message "our part complete"; Snogmaul and Shade each pay their 10% to the guild (40 GP each)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) at Three Pace Pavillion; Crow passes on the info about the job for Darien; he leaves out some of the details of the conversation; arcana checks: Snogmaul knows that you have to be pretty powerful to use the manual of golems, at least two 5th level spell slots; this person used the book then the acolyte is powerful also the manual teaches the construction steps and an animating spirit is used; the book is burned to transfer the spirit from the book to the created creature; something is in error because Darien would not want us to get the book if it has already been destroyed in the creation of the flesh golemSnogmaul (Peter D.) Crow Ashlyn and Snogmaul head to the new graveyard (more like a city dump) during the day to do some scouting; the graveyard is at the edge of the tent area; some markers with names etc; there are a couple spots where two men are digging; bundle on the ground likely a body; the area is bare plain and little place to hide; a small number of markers that are big and look like regular markers; Sam Corlander buried in the South "Proper" burial ground; find out that somebody came and dug up some body parts, not normal scavengers that take trinkets; find three spots still open from robbery; nature check shows no natural disturbances; there are a lot of boot tracks, not tool use; Investigation finds it fits theory that the digging came up from below like somebody cast animate dead and then they dug themselves out; thinks SnogmaulSnogmaul (Peter D.) The gravediggers says there are also shadows out the graveyard now, when the diggers come to Three Pace for beers that Crow buys for themSnogmaul (Peter D.) At 9:00 PM we head out to the edge of town trying to find something out of ordinary, we are clanky as we walk, it is dark and creepy ooooooooooh!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn and Brother Lucius shout a warning that "shadows" are forming... and then a shadow misses Shade, Vargas has trouble picking out a target to attack so he casts mirror image on himself; there are two shadows on each of us; Snogmaul gets hit twice for 21 hp necrotic dmg and 6 pts reduction to his Strength; Crow 9 hp dmg and Strength drain of 4; Ashlyn takes 11 hp dmg and 4 pts Strength dmg; Lucius takes 16 hp dmg and 4 pts of Strength dmg; there are twelve regular shadows plus a "big" one; Shade attacks with a scimitar the big one and does 10 pts dmg and it is full damage; silver does not help with damage; magic or radiant dmg; Crow uses the oil of enchantment to coat his great sword and then uses his bonus action to attacks and misses; Snogmaul disengages and runs 50 feet; Ashlyn uses patient defense and moves to the big one and gets a critical hit for 11 pts dmg (then halved); Vargas cast Aganaster (sp) Scorchers a gout of flame for 12 pts of dmg (really 6 pts dmg) to four different shadows and one of them takes an additional 6 pts dmg; Vargas is attacked and they all miss; the two Shadows that were on Snogmaul one goes to Crow and one goes to Ashlyn; Crow is hit for 4 Strength points drained and 8 hp dmg; Ashlyn is attacked and both missed; Lucius is attacked and is drained for 4 Strength and 9 hp; Shade is attacked and loses 7 Strength and takes 12 hp dmg; Shade destroys the big one; Crow attacks and does enough to obliterate it; Crow attacks again with his great sword and does 12 pts dmg and it vaporizes; Snogmaul fires a bolt at one and does significant damage to one on Vargas (7 pts after halving) and then Ashlyn attacked and did 7 pts (net 3); Lucius fires a wand of magic missile at three and all of them go down; seven shadows remain; Brother Lucius is attacked and is drained to 1 pt of strength and the cleric collapses (due to hp lost); Vargas attacks with magic missile for 9 pts of dmg to one next to Lucius; the shadows attack and they all miss, wounded one that had been on Lucius heads Crow and the other one heads to Snogmaul; Shade swings scimitar and does 11 pts dmg and then action surges to do another 9 more and down it goes; Crow attacks the shadow that was damaged by magic missile and he hits for 9 pts, down it goes; Snogmaul hits the one coming at him with a bolt for 4 pts dmg (really 2); Ashlyn attacks and misses then does patient defense ; Vargas did 7 pts of magic missile dmg; Shade is hit for 8 pts dmg and loses 2 strength; Crow and Ashlyn are attacked and missed; and the fight continuesSnogmaul (Peter D.) Shade attacks with precision and hits for 9 pts dmg (really 4) and then second wind heals for 12; Crow tries to wack it and misses; Ash does dmg to his shadow, Lucius makes his second death save; Vargas does scorching damage to three different shadows, the one on Shade dies; Snogmaul does 5 pts dmg to his shadow; Snogmaul fires and misses; Lucius fails his death save; Vargas magic missile attacks and takes one out; the shadows attack and the one on Snogmaul closes but does not attack; Shade gives Lucius a healing potion; Crow misses; Snogmaul attacks for 7 pts dmg and his shadow is still up; Ashlyn attacks for 8 pts dmg and then he moves 55 feet away, Lucius fires magic missile the Snogmaul shade and does 10 pts dmg , it fades; the Lucius heals some hp for Shade; Vargas fires magic missile on Crow and does 11 pts; the shadows on Crow and Shade miss; Shade attacks the shadow with his magic scimitar for 7 pts dmg; Crow critical hits for and the last one dissipates; Snogmaul fires a bolt at the last shadow that is attacking Shade; Ashlyn attack and hits 10 pts dmg and it dissipates! Yeah we are all standing! Snogmaul pulls a giant badger out of the bag of tricks and it carries our crap and Lucius back to All Faith's Temple. We take a long rest and now it is morning. That was fun?!?Snogmaul (Peter D.) We head out around 10 AM after full rest and a "breakfast." Ashlyn has breakfast at Gilded Garden, a proper breakfast. We start checking some tents and find that some have little walls around for extra sturdiness. Snogmaul and Shade get a guild sign and lets us know that there has be grave robbery and the guild is not giving the guild its cut. She will show us where to start our investigation. She points us at a tent that is 40 ft and it has substantial earthwork.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul stands at the front of the tent with his giant badger. Crow goes around back. The front flaps are tied shut from the inside. Ashlyn pulls at the tent flap and calls inside. No response. She sees some bed rolls. Seems unoccupied and she cuts the rope ties. There is a gap in the bed rolls and there is huge plank/covering the floor. There is dirt inside as well as outside. Crow wants to look under the "hatch cover." There is a huge hole in the ground. There are large stones that have made been put into the hole walls to create foot/hand holds. Twenty feet deep and is about 5 to 8 feet in diameter. Ashlyn goes the hole followed by Crow. There is a tunnel heading toward the graveyard . In the rear of the party is Snogmaul with the badger. There are beams to keep the room from collapsing. Something has packed all the dirt (floors, walls, and ceiling). The passage widens and the smell of carrion is in the air. We have torches out so that Lucius and Shade can see underground. The chamber is now 20 feet across. There is a symbol on the floor and there is a guy. There are two large "creatures" and some (8) zombies (?). The guy shouts, "Get them!"Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn moves to hit the big guy near us and then moves to the surgeon in the middle of the room. She does 7 pts dmg to big guy. Ashlyn does patient defense and but it is not enough and she gets hit for 21 damage! Shade swings the scimitar for 11 dmg. This is not a flesh golem because non-magic weapons would have done little to no damage. Zombies close in. Regular zombies miss. The surgeon is an acolyte of Orcus. He pulls from inside his search and invokes "the power of he who lives below and his will is mine!" Ashlyn is paralyzed and she is attacked and takes 18 pts and she goes to the floor. Snogmaul passes the potion of invulnerability to Crow.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Matt "I should have waited before running in." Kyle "You should have waited for a lot of things." Brother Lucius tries to turn everything within 30 feet; he manages to turn ALL zombies (big and small) !!! Wow! Ashlyn makes his first death save. Shade swings and tries a precision attacks and misses. The zombies flee and this opens up the space between Crow and the acolyte. She hits the acolyte for 10 pts and then she action surges and misses. The acolyte clutches a necklace and says "My life for Orcus!" 26 necrotic damage, a sphere of negative energy bursts out in a 60 foot range, 13 pts if saved. Snogmaul fires a bolt and does 13 points damage to the acolyte followed by magic missiles that kill the Orcus worshiper. The zombies are heading down the tunnel on the opposite side of the room. Some characters heal and Snogmaul pulls out a panther from the bag of holding.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul drinks a healing potion and then moves to the entrance of the other tunnel with the panther. They are both sneaking. Shade takes the surgeon kit. Crow investigates for the book(s). Ashlyn passes Snogmaul by running top speed. Crow and Shade continue searching. Snogmaul drinks a potion and continues to advance. Ashlyn attacks and runs back to Snogmaul. The zombie follows Ashlyn back. Ashlyn attacks easily and does 10 points dmg and takes off its head. Then she moves back toward the others zombies and misses. Shade finds the book he is looking for (got a natural 20). Ashlyn misses. Snogmaul and the panther move 75 feet. Crow passes Lucius. Ashlyn moves to the zombies again and hits for 5 pts dmg. She then moves back toward Snogmaul. Shade heads down the hall. The zombie on Ash misses. Snogmaul hits for 15 pts. The panther kills the zombie with a bite. Crow moves to within the Snogmaul and Ash.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn moves forward 90 feet and attacks for 11 pts dmg. Then she moves back toward Snogmaul. Snogmaul fires and does 16 pts dmg . The panther does 3 pts dmg. Ashlyn kills this zombie. We have "killed" three zombies. The rest of the party will catch up to Ash and Snogmaul and the panther. Ashlyn ran to attack another zombie. She hit and did some small damage. A zombie attacks Ashlyn for 6 pts damage. (Matt, "I am done with this game. Ashlyn is done with Zombie Tag.")</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul attacks for 15 pts damage and then the panther finishes it off. Four zombies are down for the count. We are all together now and we will be doing missile attacks and then fall back. We take out the big guy, Then through a series of missile attacks we take out the small zombies. The panther also engages in melee and doing some damage. The panther lives until the big zombie hits it. Brother Lucius did sacred flame on the big guy for 2 pts dmg. Snogmaul fails (1) twice in a row. Crow does a critical hit for 17 pts damage. Next Snogmaul gets a roll of 3 to hit and misses yet again! Ugh! Crow hits and then Shade hits for dmg. Snogmaul gets yet another 1! How is this possible? Ooooh the odds! We have now backed up into the room and only one of the big ones is left. Crow does another 11 pts damage and Shade does another 8 pts. It keeps coming. Sacred flame for 14 pts of dmg by Lucius and it is down and out.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We search the room. We find: an alchemist kit, a healing kit, various material components (Ashlyn: seems like not part of formula, but being used on the body he was working on when showed up), Snogmaul says they are preservation of dead and can be used in animate dead. This guy did not know what he was doing. The acolyte was coming at from necro angle but it is more a construct. This guy may have even known less than Snogmaul. Lucius may have been playing a con game. Maybe it was a con game. Maybe he was trying to trick people into thinking he had golems even they though they were zombies. (Someone needs two 5th level spell slots to use this book). 1400 GP and a black pearl of very high quality (5000 gp) The mace is not special but has the appearance of the Wand of Orcus.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The end of the opposite hall goes to the graveyard but does nothing more. The tunnel is just a through-way.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Kudos to Brother Lucius for turning undead! Experience: 40% of a level! Yeah! We are now LEVEL 5.1Snogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes tries to start a band, he plays the lute and finds several singing bards +6 gp; Snogmaul works with Erika the traveling smith as an order taker and helper; Vargas does shows illusion and light shows + 12 gold profit; Marla offers to do some shows in the future at The Beserker; Vargas gains some notoriety in town; Shade is learning the Dwarven language from a teacher in town, a priest of Moradin, cost of 35 gp; Lucius created spell scrollsSnogmaul (Peter D.) we spent lots of time (4 hours) dividing up treasureSnogmaul (Peter D.) now dividing up potion carrying; various potions of resistanceSnogmaul (Peter D.) the party convenes just outside Barrigan Hall, we have enough elements left over from the last time to reopen the vault door; the room is as we left itSnogmaul (Peter D.) some of us move into the Hall; Vargas, Snogmaul and Ashlyn stand in the open doorway; Shade cast hex; the armor figures move to us and attack; the armor suits are using axes; the chief of the eternal guard attacks Shade and misses and pulls a really big axe; the guards attack and miss due to Shade's great armorSnogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes responds and does 8 pts dmg and misses with his open hand attack; the armor suits attack some more focus on Shade; the armor suits make a wall of themselves to seal off the rest of the room from the partySnogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius takes 6 pts of dmg; Lucius responds by blessing Shade, Crow and Orestes and the armor attacks while he is casting and Lucius takes a total of 23 pts dmg; the badger and Snogmaul miss all of their attacks; Ashlyn hits with his hands for 5 pts dmg and then she moves into the room behind Lucius; Vargas fires the "scorcher", targeting 3 of the armor suits and two of them fail and take 9 pts for full dmg and 4 pts for the one that saved; Shade stabs at one of the suits that is hexed and misses; and then Shade action surges and hits with an eighteen for 19 pts dmg;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow does a critical hit and even his minimum dmg is enough to drop it; and now Crow action surges and hits with a 20 for 22 pts dmg; and then Crow's final attack hits for another 19 and he takes down a second suit! Yeah! the tide of the battle turnsSnogmaul (Peter D.) The Captain of the Eternal Guard steps in to fill the hole to left by the downed suits; it attacks Crow and misses twice; Shade gets hit with a critical for 9 pts dmg (easy); Orestes hits the Captain three times for a total of 22 pts; Shade takes another 5 pts dmg and Crow takes 9 pts dmg; much sadness as Lucius falls after 17 pts of dmg; the suits move past Lucius and makes an attack on Vargas; the suits hit Ashlyn once for 8 pts and the badger takes 11 pts dmg; Vargas responds with hellious rebuke, 35 pts dmg and save to half; Brother makes his first death saveSnogmaul (Peter D.) the badger attacks for 8 pts of dmg; Snogmaul fires a bolt and does 24 pts dmg taking down the suit that badger started; Ashlyn pours a healing potion down Lucius' throat and is "revived"; Vargas moves away and takes a hit for 6 pts dmg and then he casts fire bolt for 10 pts dmg against one of the suits; Shade stabs at one the suits and misses so then Crow attacks twice missing both times; the Captain attacks Crow and gets a critical which only affects Crow normally for 14 pts dmg - saved by his armor; a suit attacks and critical hits Shade for 15 pts of dmg; Orestes attacks and gets a hit with his quarter staff and a critical on flurry of blows for a total of 17 pts dmg; Shade is attacked twice and both attacks miss; Crow is attacked and struck twice for 13 pts dmg; Ashlyn is hit once for 5 pts and then is critially hit twice for a total 20 pts dmg, she goes down! Oh no!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) The badger is attacked and missed! Super badger!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Lucius stands up and moves 5 ft toward the door; Brother casts mass cure wounds for 19 pts dmg each for 5 characters + the badger; Ashlyn cannot believe the badger is topped off; and now a bonus action from Brother Lucius for 10 to all wounded characters; the suits try to attack Lucius while he is casting and they missSnogmaul (Peter D.) Super Badger attacks with a slash for 7 pts dmg; Snogmaul fires a bolt and misses; Ashlyn does step of the wind and moves around to attack with a bo-staff and hits once for 10 pts dmg; Vargas fires "scorcher" with 12 pts dmg and save for half, three of them missed their saves and one made it; next to attack is Shade; Crow hit and takes one down and makes his second attack and misses the Captain; the Captain takes the shield off of his back and now uses his axe one-handed; attacks on Shade miss and he repoiste only to miss; Orestes takes down the Captain! Great! Shade moves his "hex" to another suit; and now a flurry of blows missing; attacks on Shade that miss come next and finally one hits for 3 pts dmg; Brother Lucius is hit 14 pts dmg total; the badger is hit for 8 pts dmg and it lives on; Brother Lucius casts sacred flame and takes down a suit so that Shade can move the hex;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Badger attacks for 7 pts with a bite; then for 5 pts dmg with claws; Snogmaul does 14 pts dmg with his bolt, the suit has 1 point left (boo hoo); Ashlyn runs around all of the other party members and the suits of armor to finish off the 1 hp suit (KILL STEAL BABY! oh yeah)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas attacks with a fire bolt and misses even though he twinned it; Shade shifts to the left and gets a critical hit doing a total of 24 pts of dmg and down it goes; the hex moves again; Crow hits for a total of 19 pts dmg and down it goes; the hex moves again; the suits attack Shade and miss; Orestes attacks and does a flurry of blows on top of his weapon attack and he goes down "from fresh to dead"; the hex moves again; oh no! a critical hit for 11 on Shade "only 11 points," he says;Snogmaul (Peter D.) super badger attacks for 13 pts dmg; Snogmaul critically fails (rolls a 1); Ashlyn finishes off the suit the badger started; Vargas is ready with a casts a twin fire bolt and hits for 13 pts dmg + 1 more for hex; Shade hits and takes the second to last suit of armor; the hex moves to the final suit; Crow hits and does 18 pts of dmg with his spiffy new +2 sword and his second attack for 21 pts of dmg; the last one "dies"Snogmaul (Peter D.) the Captain was a helmed horror and the other two armor guys inside the vault are also helmed horror; the other suits were animated armor; the helmed horror usually has a spirit and may require a item to keep it going after the creator is not still around to control it;Snogmaul (Peter D.) and now... the players go home for the nightSession 9--2016.07.23Snogmaul (Peter D.) Assault On the Vault; 9 players plus the DM!Snogmaul (Peter D.) The party is resuming our move into Hall Baragan.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius drinks both fire and cold resistance, gets a 17 misability, fire resistance cancelled out; Vargas cold resist; Orestes fire resistance; Drombar frost giant strength; Adlan and Snogmaul no potions at this time; Ashlyn no potions; Shade drinks fire resistance and hill giant strength potions; Crow drinks invulnerabiltiySnogmaul (Peter D.) we activate the door with four elements; the door bolt slides away, the doors should be easy to open; there is a handhold now visible, Drombar pulls open the door; Aldan moves back into cover; doors open by coming out and then sliding to the side; seven figures "resting" on there sarcophagi; Drombar goes into the room and grabs a strongbox and takes a couple coins out of it and runs for the door! the rest of the party falls back 10 to 15 feetSnogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas misses his atttack; the party is attacked with an ice storm; Snogmaul "catapults" a bag of ball bearings at an enemy for 7 pts dmg; the earth guard sinks into the floor; a huge firey sphere explodes in the room for 26 pts dmg; Drombar falls; other party members are significantly hurt; Orestes casts web into the vault 20x20 foot area; brother Lucius channels divinity and heals several characters and then mass healing word for other characters; Crow uses second wind and then moves to the side; elemental lords are the creatures we are fighting; one helm horrors dex/dodged out of the way and the other one uses his strength to rip its way through; a helm horror attacks Drombar with his axe once and misses and misses his second attack; the lord of the vault prepares for something in the future; Aldan misses his attack; Vargas moves out of the center area of the fight and casts a chromatic orb of fire and twins it doing two hit and it takes 20 and 11 pts dmg; Ashlyn does her move up - attack- and move back for 17 pts; Drombar attacks hits for 14 pts dmg (missed by 1 pt) and then he action surges and criticals to knocks it down; blue guy does not break free from the web and does nothing else; Shade uses eldritch blast on one of the helm horrors and did nothing; Snogmaul moves back and drinks a potion of healing for 9 pts dmg; the earth guy attacks Drombar after emerging from the floor and does 9 pts dmg; the fire guy shoots flames from his hands and to burn the webs and the bad guys in the vault take dmg for total 7 pts and 12 pts dmg; the guy in the back fires two bolts from a hand crossbow at Shade and both miss; the air guy fires a heavy crossbow and misses Drombar even though he is already down; Orestes moves back and webs the vault again; Brother Lucius heals Drombar for 21 pts! Drombar is "alive" again; Lucius moves behind the table; Crow stands atop the throne and attacks the lord of earth for 13 pts of dmg, misses his second attack, and then does another hit for 23 pts, the dmg is as effective because of magical weapon and then one last 10 pts of dmg; the Lord of Air sends lightning from his hands causing 39 to Shade and the bolt then forks to his Drombar for 19 pts dmg and to Brother Lucius (he falls) and Crow takes the last fork of the bolt for 1/2 dmg due to invulnerability; the "biggie" in the back looks at Shade in the eye and he is frightened and paralyzed due to a missed wisdom saving throw; Aldan hexes and eldritch blasts and then moves out of the way; Vargas pours a special healing potion down the throat of Brother Lucius; Ashlyn does 7 pts dmg and the earth guy falls to the ground, Drombar switches to his magic +1 hand axe and does a healing surge and then moves; bad guys in the vault are still caught in the webs and the water lord who casts the ice storm with the following characters going down Shade, Drombar, Vargas, and Brother Lucius; Vargas responds with a hellious rebuke for 18 pts dmg to the water lord; Shade makes his first death save; brother lucius and DrombarSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul casts catapult and does 8 pts dmg to the water lord; Orestes forces a greater healing down the throat of Brother Lucius for 13 pts of healing; Lucius uses the staff of healing to 10 pts to Vargas and then mass healing words to 12 hp to Orestes, Brother, Crow, Drombar and to Shade. Crow runs into the vault and attacks one of the tanks with a critical hit for 24 pts dmg (DM "that took a chunk out of him.")</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) the Lord of Air cast a wall of air (dc 17) and takes bludgeoning dmg for 6 pts (no projectiles go through); evil tank guy was not caught in the web and attacks twice for 8 pts dmg to Crow; the boss guy moves forward and backhands Crow for 12 pts + 7 necrotic dmg, make a con save to not get sick; Vargas casts a fireball in the vault for 21 dmg + 4 dmg for the webs that are consumed in the fire, some take half dmg and the Lord takes double from fire (50 pts), the Water Lord goes down; the helmed horror and is immune to fireball and so takes no dmg; Ashlyn does a stunning strike and the big guy has to make a con save and he makes it but he also takes 4 pts dmgSnogmaul (Peter D.) Drombar tries to drink a healing potion but there is no affect due to potion miscibility; Shade moves to just inside the door and drinks a healing potion and gets back 8 pts hp; Snogmaul pulls a giant elk out of the bag of tricks; OMG! Look out! the Lord Fire casts fireball for 24 pts of dmg, Crow and Drombar are down; Orestes moves back to one of the stone benches and casts web again on the inside of the vault; Brother drinks a healing potion and gets back 8 hp and then Drombar gets 8 hp back from Brother;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow is down and misses his death save twice (rolled a one); the Lord of Air tries to tear free of the web and does, then he moved back five ft; one of the guys moves out of the room; the boss guy (mummy?) moves out of the vault; Vargas casts haste on Crow and then moves to Drombar's space; Ashlyn spends a chi point, uses disengage as a bonus action and feeds a potion of healing to Crow and he gets 14 hp back (yeah, no more death saves); Drombar misses and then hits for 12 pts of dmg to the last helm horror; Shade hits "the lord" for 10 pts dmg and DOWN HE GOES!Snogmaul (Peter D.) the elk tries to attack and misses; Snogmaul attack with his crossbow and misses the helmed horror; the fire lord swings and misses Shade who responds with a repose and hits for 14 pts dmg; Orestes does an unarmed strike for 8 pts dmg; Brother casts cure wounds on Drombar and he gets 20 hp and then 9 hp pts for Crow; Crow stands and is hasted and so he hits for 16 hp dmg and down goes the helmed horror; Crow charges the fire lord and misses; ooooh! The Lord of Air unleashes a wall of air and Shade, Vargas and Crow are caught in it (DC 17 strength), Shade makes it, the others do not (Shade has 1 HP, Vargas has 2 HP) ---- Aahhhhh!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas moves a few feet and then "charges" his pearl; Ashlyn and Drombar move to attack when the web goes down; Shade attacks the fire lord for 12 pts dmg and then uses action surge to drink a healing potion for 12 hp; Snogmaul casts blindness on the Air Lord (unknown if it worked 'cause there is no visible effect) and the elk stands-by; the fire lord attacks Crow and misses; Orestes takes down the web and then waits for others to go; Ashlyn attacks the Lord of Air for 10 pts dmg; Drombar moves in toward the air lord and then misses; Orestes moves to the Air Lord and attacks with his quarter staff and hits twice for 20 pts dmg and follows up with a flurry of blows and both miss; Brother Lucius heals 15 hp on Shade; Crow hits for a total of 29 against the fire lord; the air lord attacks Drombar and he takes 8 pts dmgSnogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas twins a chromatic orb and gets two hits and does 17 + hp dmg of fire dmg; the last lord dies! (We, the players, are going to dinner!)</b>Alden (Ray C.) Looks like you guys did fine. How harrowing was it?Snogmaul (Peter D.) LOOT! In the strong boxes we find racks of coins and trade gems (there are also strong boxes that are empty): four elemental lords (ceremonial plate mail, custom built for House Baragan, but origin is obvious), the circlet the Lord was wearing is nice but nothing special, the shield that the earth lord was using is ornate and does not include symbology and is made of adamantium and dragon scales (possibly indestructible); the hand crossbow is probably made by drow and has two bolt and is self reloading is, a bonus action can fire it twice, possibly enchanted; each of the elemental lords has a ring that appears to have symboloby related to each of the elements, attuning is necessary to find out more; the Lord is wearing an enchanted bracers (attuning needed); money: 28 100gp trade gems, 2900 gold coins, 1200 pp coins; the House is broken, elemental magic that keeps air, water and lit is not functioning, the elemental hall is broken into chaos; the circlet may be pawned for 1000 gp, "no identifying marks other than the kingship of House Baragan"Snogmaul (Peter D.) we do some healing to get party members up closer to full, healing spell and "hit dice"; update after short rest and attuning: hand crossbow of speed, +1 weapon, fire a shot as a bonus action, holds up to eight bolts, reloading bolts takes an action to load up to four, could fire a bolt as a normal single load; ring of earth elemental, can cast dominate, can move in rubble as normal terrain, and other things - see treasure notes; bracers of archery, make wearer proficient with bow and +2 to dmg; ring of air elemental, can feel the invisible around you/air currents/etc, five charges to cast dominate monster air elemental, you can speak and understand air elemental, always under feather fall; ring of fire elemental can cast dominate fire elemental, can sense every point of fire, even extinguished fires, can speak and understand fire language; ring of water elemental, can dominate elementals, can walk on liquid and ice surfaces; these are LEGENDARY RINGS! we can unlock more powers of the rings by defeating elementals of the specified typeSnogmaul (Peter D.) the shield is +1, it could be enchanted to a higher level; it is also indestructibleSnogmaul (Peter D.) additional powers are available but not noted here or in the treasure log; when the rings are unlocked changes to abilities will be noted; research in the archives is in order at some point in the future; while wearing a ring the attacker gets advantage when attacking that element and the elemental gets disadvantage against wearerSnogmaul (Peter D.) one last note: whoever earns the rings' full power should keep the ring from then onLegend's Dad (John S.) nice haul!Legend's Dad (John S.) For us vicarious players, any chance you'd do a quick party roster of name/class/player ?Ashlyn (Matt M.) Drombar (Dave) Dwarf Fighter Crow (Mark) Half-Elf Fighter Snogmaul (Peter) Gnome Rogue Brother Lucius (Jim) Human Cleric Orestes (Robert) Dwarf Monk Vargas (Rick) Tiefling Sorceror Shade (Andre) Human Fighter Ashlyn (Matt) Elf Monk Aldan (Ray) Half-Elf Paladin/WarlockAlden (Ray C.) Aldan is a Half-ElfLegend's Dad (John S.) Ok, I had Crow, Snogmaul, Ashlyn peggedLegend's Dad (John S.) I didn't figure out the rest :slightly_smiling_face:Legend's Dad (John S.) Rick always throws me off if he's not a physical/magic hybridLegend's Dad (John S.) If someone had showed me multi-class paladin/warlock and asked me who it would be I would have gotten RayLegend's Dad (John S.) Wait, are rangers and druids nbs in 5th?Legend's Dad (John S.) AND WHAT ABOUT WIZARDSLegend's Dad (John S.) zomgAshlyn (Matt M.) Rangers are definitely nbs.Alden (Ray C.) Druids are pretty powerful depending on how the shapeshifting rules are interpreted.Alden (Ray C.) On the other hand, the new Unearthed Arcana Ranger article is out today.Ashlyn (Matt M.) Just skimmed it. Animal companion is gross.Orestes (Robt. G.) Too bad we can't use it with our new Giant Elk. :wink:Crow (Mark W.) I've never been fond of the pet ranger builds, I want to be Aragorn...Snogmaul (Peter D.) new idea for snogmaul: switch to multi-class ranger... oh yeah baby Giant Elk is king... how do i get it to level up?Br. Lucius (Jim Y.) Last I'd heard Unearthed Arcana articles aren't allowed. Only published for sale references by WotC are/were allowed.GM (Kyle B.) Has to exist as an official rulebookSession 10--2016.10.15Snogmaul (Peter D.) NEW SESSION on Oct 15, 2016Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius has given some thought to whom the rings should go to. He explains that the ring of air elemental should go to Crow. Lucius went on to explain that the ring of earth elemental goes to Orestes. The ring will help him from physical attacks. The third ring goes to Shade (even though he betrayed us at one point) has shown himself to be reliable, the "pirate" gets the ring of water elemental. The forth, and last ring, will go to Lucius to help with protection, ring of fire elemental. Snogmaul gets the crossbow and the bracers of archery.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow suggests returning to the Baragan archives to do research to restore the collapsing elemental structures for the area. We take a short rest inside the vault to regain limited use powers and attune to the rings. Remove the contents of the vault and close the door. The characters try their rings in the door sockets and the door lock mechanism does NOT activate. The rings cannot actually generate elements from their respective elemental planes... yet.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The crown is a circlet of gold and has the Baragan crest in the front center which has four gems which represent the elements. There are 50 coins to the pound and so we have 82 pounds.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We head out of the Hall and turn left toward the intersection with the Plaza of the Elements. We can hear noises of elements clashing, the ring wearers can actually hear elements speaking/yelling their respective languages. Orestes hears from the earth element "crush them, turn them to dust!" Lucius hears the fire say "the law will be obeyed and we will slay them in accordance with the law!" The water says "the currents will do as they will!" Coming down the intersection are the elementals. There seems to be an immense number of beings; four enormous beings gather before us.Snogmaul (Peter D.) One of the creatures is a genie (granting wishes sort) looks like a old wizard; generally well intention; one creature is an effreit is a creature of fire and is ruthless (LE); Dao (is resting on a huge maul) is the next creature and is a prince of elemental earth, heartless and destructive, grind you dust is their strategy and can grant wishes also; Marid, tornado of water with a shark face, is from the elemental plane of water and is all about freedom and the impossible strength of the sea, it can grant wishes but it will may or may not be helpful. Snogmaul is crapping in his pants cause he knows what all four beings are. Some of the party are blissfully ignorant. They see us and continue arguing but have not taken action against us. Crow orders the air back to work, the genie turns his attention to Crow. The genie asks Crow if he claims the ring. Crow responds by ordering a medium sized elemental to come stand with him, expending 2 chargers of 5. The genie asks who else can command elements. Lucius commands a fire elemental to join him. Lucius then says to the effreit you can go and leave one fire elemental. The prince of fire informs Lucius that things are not that simple. Shade commands a water elemental to come over and stand with him and it does. Orestes does the same and is successful and a hulking mass of earth and stone responds.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The Dao is grinding her weapon into the floor. Vargas asks the effreit what are the terms of Baragan - Elemental agreement. "We provide a set of fixed services. Therefore you must demonstrate that you are the masters of the articles not just the possessors." "Here is the choice; you prove yourselves individually or as a group. " The other elemental princes agree to this plan. "If we choose individually then the others (the non-ring wearers can go free." One against one OR four elementals against the seven at once!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade takes the Dust of Dryness to use against the water elemental. We collectively know they are resistant to non-magical weapon, earth no additional resistance, all immune to poison; vulnerabiltiy no for air, earth vulner to thunder; nature air and earth are all bludgeoning; water does mostly bludgeoning; the only energy type is fire; they are all immune paralysis, knocked prone or restrained; all have dark vision; the air elemental can share space with others, that is it can be the in a character's space and fightSnogmaul (Peter D.) we drink potions - - - Crow begins attacking the water elemental and misses twice and then uses an action surge to 12 pts dmg; Lucius orders the fire elemental to attack the water elemental and hits for 9 dmg; Lucius drinks a hill giant potion; Ashlyn pours oil of enchantment on his staff and moves 35 feet from the party; Snogmaul does 21 pts of dmg against the water; the water elemental breaks free of the control and then attacks the fire elemental for 30 pts dmg and the fire elelmental breaks free; Shade throws Dust of Dryness against water and does 12 pts; Vargas twins firebolt and hits once for 6 pts dmg; Orestes commands the earth elemental to attack water and then uses a flurry of blows and does hits twice 6 and 6 non-magical dmg; the earth elemental attacks the water elemental and does 16 pts dmg (then halved) so really 8 pts;Snogmaul (Peter D.) second round: Crow hits for 17 pts dmg with a magic weapon and then hits again 14 more pts dmg; the free fire elemental attacks Orestes and he takes 4 pts; Lucius does 10 pts of dmg and the water falls down to the ground in a puddle; Ashlyn runs up and hits the fire elemental twice with her bo staff and then falls back, 8 pts of dmg; air elemental stands guard on Crow; Snogmaul attacks the fire twice for 36 and 12 pts of dmg; Shade swings and hits for 14 pts dmg; Vargas cast a ray of frost for 8 pts; Orestes burned some more (oh yeah baby) and then he swung twice for 13 pts and a bunch of fists for 8 pts; Crow swings and does 15 and down goes the fire elemental; Crow then turns his attention to the air elemental for 11 pts dmg and it does not break free of control (yeah!); next up Brother L with a swing and misses and he also gets out a scroll; Ashlyn misses twice as her blows are deflected and then gets 2 pts dmg after dmg is halved; the air elemental shifts its attack to go after Crow and Brother Lucius and Orestes using a whirlwind with 21 pts dmg to Crow and lands near the wall of water elementals and he is prone; the giant elk enters the fray and does 19 (then halved) dmg with hooves against air elemental; Snogmaul fires a magic bolt for 41 pts dmg; Shade misses and then action surges hitting the air elemental for 11 pts dmgSnogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas casts a twin chromatic thunder orb at the earth elemental for missing the first and critically hitting for 24 pts which turns into 48 pts dmg because earth in vulnerable; no longer dominated; Orestes takes 1 pts of burning dmg (still burnin' baby) and then he attacks with his quarter staff for 6 pts dmg and then he attacks with his fists of punching again doing 7 pts (halved to 3); the earth elemental goes roaring and pounding Brother Delicious and misses twice; Crow gets up and charges after having been knocked down by the wind and hits the air elemental for 10 pts of magical dmg; Brother looms over him and he decides to step away to attack and the earth elemental hits him on an opportunity attack doing 30 pts of dmg; Lucius does burning hands against the earth and air for 11 pts dmg each and Orestes takes 5 pts dmg;Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn runs to hit the earth and misses; the air elemental attacks and hits Orestes twice for 16 and 17 with both halving to 8 each equals 16 total pts of dmg; elk attacks earth for 7 pts after halving dmg; Snogmaul fires twice and hits for once for 21 pts dmg against the earth elemental; Shade hits the earth 10 pts of magical dmg; Vargas twins a chromatic orb and casts it at third level all against the earth elemental and does a total of 41 pts dmg and it doubles to 82 for vulnerabilty, blowing it to smithereens; the second orb strikes the air elemental and literally blows the air away!!!Snogmaul (Peter D.) the princes seem satisfied with our performance; the whole Baragan Estate is now protected by the elements; the elements see us as a clan of seven; Baragan elders became undead so that they did not have to redo the agreement; the elements resume their work of maintaining the estate; the elementals are willing to converse with us; we can make deals with the elementals add-ons; a stipulation says that we cannot sacrifice elementals, it is okay of the elementals to die if they die while doing something else;Snogmaul (Peter D.) we go and try to open the vault and we now can; we still cannot open the vault from the inside; we have a long rest in the Archive; the ringbearers can read the languages of the elementals; the stone shape can access the catch for the vault doors and the secret door. the spirit forces that animate the eternal guard, fire elementals are the commanders of the eternal guard aka the helmed horrors; bearer of the air elemental ring controls the eternal guard and the fire ring controls the helmed horror. water ring notes say that the water master was the info gatherer; internal intelligence gathering; the rings have sat in the vault for at least a couple generations; other archive notes say that the native creatures to the Underdark would show up occassionaly;Snogmaul (Peter D.) We lay claim to the Baragan Estate. the nicest lodgings are near the narrow end of the wedge, that is the farther away from the public entrance the better the lodgings; Crow sets up eternal guard on the other side of the gate to the public lift to keep the area secure. The party heads up top. Crow goes to the Plaza of the Elements to strike up a deal to have it fly to Crow to notify him of intruders in the Estate. The air elemental or some other air elemental would fly to the Temple of All Faiths and/or the Three Pace Pavilion to find Crow or any other member of our clan;Snogmaul (Peter D.) and now the BIG QUESTION: Do we monetize the shaft?Snogmaul (Peter D.) for now the shaft and estate will remain secret after much discussionSnogmaul (Peter D.) the mining company has removed the state of lock down due to our notifying the company reps of phase spidersSnogmaul (Peter D.) money, more money, more money; Snogmaul, Crow and Brother L take reduced shares of treasure coinage; see treasure slack for detailsSnogmaul (Peter D.) on the way up to the surface we encounter a miner and he tells us that Cras Adamant, the head of the company, wants to see us and that we can find him at the mining offices up top; Snogmaul pays the Guild its share (177 gp); we then proceed to the mining office; Cras asks "How is it going down there?" He observes that we are doing well. "You seem like professionals that I can rely on. I cannot keep professionals like you on staff. But, we are having a problem that we cannot lock out. Something big is coming in and taking miners. We don't have a whole lot of survivors. The tunnels that are coming into our mining area are 8 feet tall. A two part deal: just to tell me what it is will earn you 1000 gp or if you handle it 5000 gp if you reduce the threat or 10k gp if you keep it gone and prove that it will not come back." If we do the whole thing we would earn 16000 gp. The incursions seem to be in the lost three days and 3 sets of miners lost. The lost teams' equipment are still there. The tunnels look more like burrowing. There is blood, but no limbs.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas goes to the Beserker and asks about what could be doing this kind of burrowing. Not purple worm (not likely because it is too close to the surface), not an ooze or slime is the answer he gets. Recommends Moonglow the Drow because she is from deep. She will not be around for a day or two. Maybe a bulette. They will keep digging around and will continue killing. Carrion crawlers cannot move that fast. Lots of debating in the bar. The site of attack is 200 feet deep and through mostly stone. At Three Pace the conversation is all about the disappearances. Quite of bit of exaggeration. Some are talking about the "devils in the dark." Another suggestion is black pudding, if it was this it the tunnels would be smooth and they are not. There were four team members in each of the mining teams. The equipment would have also be gone if it was a pudding. Snogmaul hears a bardic story, by a skald from the north, " The great wyrm was defeated by the devils in the dark. The village was being attacked by a dragon. The lair of the dragon was known. The dragon's hoard was still there. There were tunnels that came up into the ice cave of the dragon. There were two score holes into the wyrm's lair. It was devil in the dark said the town's leader. No one knows what the devils in the dark look like because anyone that encounters the devils does not remember." All the things still left just like the situation we now face but living creatures are gone. Likely not beholders could, but no it is not. But beholders would make really clean holes/tunnels.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother goes to visit the alchemist. The characters think about "nature." It seems like more of a predator. There is something that matches of the stories, Vargas hears that it is some enormous insectoid and look into its eyes and forget (metagame tells us umber hulk). The alchemist suggests something that can charm or paralyze. A hulk? Says it has ichor (tells us how to harvest) that is good for potions of strength, the eyes are also useful. Don't ever look one in the eyes. They do not travel alone. Possibly half a dozen, "swarming." Ichor goes bad quickly be sure to bring it to me soon after harvesting. The alchemist gives us containers to contain harvest. Underside of caripace (gives us instruction on this as well) can be harvested to make stone skin potions.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Scroll of hold monster would likely work. Want to make sure they do not make it to the surface. "Not a swarm, not a swarm, aaaahhhh!"Snogmaul (Peter D.) "Oh yeah this is important! They like to ambush. They are willing to wait until they can attack. They may have some kind of psyonic link."Snogmaul (Peter D.) We are doing XP: 10% + 5% +5% = 20% of a level.Session 11--2016.11.15Snogmaul (Peter D.) BEGIN NEXT SESSIONSnogmaul (Peter D.) Why would hulks be on Tier 3? Possibly a way to disrupt mining operation. Is somebody controlling the hulks? Another option: something farther down is pushing the hulks up. Is there something bigger/stronger/more scary to hulks that makes them come closer to the surface. LM9 is the warforge designation; aka Luminane at All Faiths Temple. The warforged suggests that hulks compete with purple worms, or demonic chuul, chasims (?), drow, mind flayers like to have hulks as servants; deep dwarves or deep gnomes would want to drive out hulks. A illythid or beholder might control a hulk?Snogmaul (Peter D.) We are heading down to the mines, Tier 3 outer ring. The perimeter guard says "You are the third group to head out today. We have not heard from the other groups. (We arrive after lunch.) The first bunch was a pack or hired goons. The second bunch is about an hour ahead of us. They were scouting, possibly for somebody else. Good luck to ya." Ashlyn, pays off the guard to keep quiet about our presence. Only other party members not here today could be told we went down. The guard also says to "look out for oozes, etc. We use bon-fires and oil. A torch is not sufficient. "Ashlyn (Matt M.) Marching Order Ashlyn (120 feet ahead) Snogmaul (60 feet ahead) Shade / Drombar Crow / Oresteus Brother Lucius / VargasAshlyn (Matt M.) <@U0D4TS341|deckofmanythings> pinned a message to this channel.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul casts Non-detection on himself and is moving "stealthily." Snogmaul "spots" a black pudding and sends a message to Brother. The info goes threw the party. Black puddings are corrosive and they can split.Snogmaul (Peter D.) A second black pudding drops from the ceiling onto Snogmaul! Should've looked up. 6 pts of bludgeoning dmg and 19 pts acid... Gaaa! Ashlyn sees this happen. Ashlyn tosses staff to the ground and then uses step of the wind and punches and moves back. It takes 5 pts dmg. and in return she takes 4 pts dmg. Snogmaul disengages, moves a few feet, and then throws alchemist fire. Snogmaul is successful and does 2 pts dmg. Vargas chromatic orb for 12 and 10 pts of dmg. Shade runs forward toward the pudding and he is now 60 feet away.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The flaming pudding is 10 ft from Ashlyn and the second pudding has dashed 40 ft toward Ashlyn. Crow sends forth a "wind wall" range 120 ft and each creature takes bludgeoning dmg. The front one takes 4 pts dmg and the back one takes 9 pts dmg. Crow moves forward 30 ft and would be 40 ft away from the first pudding. Flaming pudding 3 pts of dmg from fire and then tries to squish the fire out and it is successful. Then the burnt pudding moves forward toward Ashlyn.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn uses step of the wind and moves back and throws a magic knife and does 5 pts dmg and then moves to a total 55 ft away. Snogmaul attacks with the second alchemist fire doing 1 pt dmg and then he moves 25 ft back so Snogmaul is 30 ft away from the pudding. Vargas does 23 fire bolt dmg. Shade fires an eldritch blast for 2 pts force dmg. Brother Lucius casts sacred flame for 4 pts radiant dmg. The second pudding moves forward past the first and it is now 10 ft in front of the burnt pudding.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow sends forth another windwall for 7 pts dmg to each pudding. He then uses an action surge to take a second and third attack, hitting twice for a total of 14 piercing dmg and collapsing into a burning "puddle". Yeah!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn runs up and throws a knife and then runs back to 40 ft away; does 7 pts dmg . Snogmaul fires twice from the Cartographer's Quill doing 11pts and 11 pts of piercing dmg. Crow was attacked by the second pudding and took 15 pts of acid and 7 pts bludgeoning dmg.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow swings and does 16 pts dmg and it is cleaved in two. And takes a second wind and got 11 pts back. And Crow is splashed with acid taking 1 pt dmg.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn does 5 and 5 pts dmg of the piercing type. And the second pudding takes 12 pts dmg from a bolt after firing twice. The third (result of attack) pudding attacks and misses. Shade does 6 pts dmg. Brother Lucius does 6 pts of damage with sacred flame.Snogmaul (Peter D.) And the last pudding is no just a pile of goo. Conclusion: attack puddings with fire, bludgeoning or piercing dmg. Also, radiant and force dmg also work. Slashing does not seem to dmg it and it does split the pudding in half. So no slashing.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother heals Snogmaul for 8 pts and then Snogmaul uses 3HD and gets back up to 30 HP. Ashlyn uses hit dice to heal and so does Crow (uses 1).Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul pulls a weasel from the bag of tricks. The two of them proceed. They move forward and are slowly approaching the new area. It will take us about 2 hours total to get there. The area we are in is well shored up. We get to the rough hew area. There are two additional holes. They do not look like the rest of the mined area. About 8 ft across is each tunnel; ripped or torn earth.Snogmaul (Peter D.) One of the torn tunnels can be smelled as fresh earth, the one that comes up through the floor. The other burrow is older and has been scattered. The one in the floor is has had little scattering of earth. There was somebody in front of us. They would have come the same we have came.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn is lowered on a rope down the hole in the floor. There is a slight jog and heads mostly down. He can get foot holds as he is lowered. It could be done without a rope if necessary. After about 60 ft down, the tunnel slopes downward and can be walked instead of climbed. The corridor stays about 8 ft across. Shade climbs down third. Shade passes off pitons to tie the rope to. Vargas goes down right after Ashlyn. A bulls-eye lantern is tied to the rope illuminate the tunnel. Brother climbs down with the rope. Up top is Crow. Snogmaul is just starting to climb down and is in the hole.Snogmaul (Peter D.) An insectoid creature bursts through the floor between Ashlyn and Vargas. It is facing Ashlyn. Vargas casts blur on himself and then steps to the side so others can get past him. Ashlyn makes her save vs the eyes of the creature. She attacks with her bo-staff and does 7 pts dmg and spends a chi to stun the creature until Ashlyn's next turn. She attacks for another 12 pts dmg. And then follows up with a martial arts attack for 5 pts dmg. She also spilled her wine which she was drinking at the time when the hulk busted through the floor.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius is two rounds from the bottom and right behind Shade who is on the rope. Something is coming up the tunnel from farther down below. Shade climbs down and then charges. Shade hits with advantage and does 7 pts dmg. Crow flies (a flying crow) down and moves past the other party members. Snogmaul climbs down 20 ft . using acrobatics.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The passage is only wide enough for one character to engage the creature. Shade is in front; Crow is behind with a bow. Vargas twins his spell, a fire chromatic orb and does 17 pts and 12 pts damage. Ashlyn closes her eyes and casts darkness on a coin, 15 ft radius around the coin. The hulk attacks Ashlyn and misses with one claw, hits with the other claw doing 6 pts of dmg. The mandibles miss! The creature has tremor sense.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius casts shield of faith on Ashlyn, increasing AC by 2. Shade tries to attack but misses. Snogmaul dashes down the rope and makes it safely. Crow fires his bow, using action surge, four arrows: 6 pts, 9 pts, 4 pts, 7 pts damage. Crow then flies back up the shaft a some distance, 10 ft. Vargas is hovering 5 ft up the shaft above Snogmaul. Vargas casts chromatic orb and misses twice. Ashlyn stands perfectly still. The hulk... attacks Shade twice with its claws and hits once for 8 pts dmg; the mandibles miss. Yippee! Brother Lucius casts guiding bolt and misses, due to disadvantage. The second hulk (Mr. Koolaide) has arrived! Oh no!!! It bursts through the wall next to the rope end. It does not attack because it used all of its actions to move.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade attacks the first hulk and misses. Snogmaul looks at Mr Koolaid and gets confused, he does nothing. Crow casts lightning at the hulks and does 52 pts dmg to the first and 26 to Mr Koolaide. The first one dies. Ashlyn runs the distance to come up behind Mr Kool. She misses and then retreats 15 ft. Mr Kool attacks Snogmaul, both claws miss and the mandibles hits for 16 pts dmg. Ouch! Shade looks at the creature and then does not eldritch blast it. Snogmaul poisons three bolts in preparation of next round. Crow misses both of his attacks. Vargas is confused and does nothing after looking at the monster. Ashlyn moves forward and strikes Mr Kool and hits twice for 5 and 11 pts of dmg and then retreats. Brother Lucius is confused and attacks Snogmaul, but misses. Mr Koolaid attacks Snogmaul for 4 pts after using uncanny dodge, for 9 pts dmg. Shade attacks and misses. Snogmaul drinks a greater healing potion and gets back 16 HP. He then disengages and moves toward wear the first hulk was blown apart with lightning. Crow misses. Vargas is confused and moves flies to the top of the shaft. As he flies away Mr. Kool takes a swipe and misses.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Again Ashlyn moves in and hits for 9 pts of dmg and then retreats. Brother Lucius averts his gaze and then disengages and moves 15 ft down the corridor to be just in front of Snogmaul. Brother casts healing word and cures 11 pts. Mr Kool hits Crow with its claws for 7 and 9 pts of dmg. Shade is confused and does nothing. Snogmaul looks and is confused and moves down past where we have gone. He moves 50 ft away and is now 75 ft away from Mr Kool. Crow misses. Crow takes 12 pts of dmg as he disengages and moves away.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas hits it with scorching rays from 35 ft away. He does 6 and 10 and 6 pts of dmg. Ashlyn swings twice after running in and out for 11 pts with her bo-staff. Brother moves outside the range of Mr Kool's gaze. Brother causes 9 pts of radiant dmg to the creature. Mr Kool attacks Shade and gets a critical hit on him with the mandibles. Arrrrg! 20 pts dmg to Shade. Shade gets a second wind and gets back 14 HP. He is confused and climb up the rope back to town. A hit of opportunity for 10 pts of dmg. Crow moves to attack and is confused but chooses to attack the hulk and he hits. Crow does 13 pts dmg and its is dead! Sigh.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We can harvest parts for the alchemist in town. We use the containers/tools supplied to us.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius heals Shade. Crow and Ashlyn use HD to heal.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We return to the surface. The alchemist offers us half of the potions he will make and cash in the future for the sale of the potions he will sell. Check back later. He will make four stone skin and six hill giant strength. He has been wanting to brew a potion of tremor sense. Shade offers to be a guinea pig for the new potion.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Experience: .20 level so we are now level 6.05 ! Woot!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crass agrees to continue to pay us for hunting; cash paid 6000 gp; now there is a bounty of 2000 per hulk head. END SESSIONLegend's Dad (John S.) <@U0D6TPFRS|jwspeck> pinned a message to this channel.Session 12--2016.12.10Snogmaul (Peter D.) Session on Dec 10thSnogmaul (Peter D.) There may be a new vein of adamantine (ore) according to a dwarf miner. Requires special smelting. Crass is the wealthiest person in town and he employs the most people. Aggressive dwarven miner describes Crass.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow buys all the miners in the Three Paces Pavillion (25 gp worth of drinks) on the night we return to town. The next day we return to the scene of our last fight in the tunnels with the umber hulks. Ashlyn gets a good night's rest in her posh digs.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn is ahead of the rest of the party and Snogmaul is back about 60 ft behind Ashlyn. She notices a loose patch of rubble (not Barney) on the right; Orestes examines the rubble and determines that it is fresher than the rest of the tunnel but not minutes fresh. Not a rock fall, maybe it was stuffed into a hole to fill it in; we are below earth and in fully rock tunnels; the patch is about 8 ft in diameter; Snogmaul and Crow agree that the party should remove the debris and see what is behind. Ashlyn wants to know if we can take a short rest after digging, she needs to regenerate chi. Orestes is going to "pass through rock" and finds there is 10 ft of rock and there is another adjoining tunnel and the other end is blocked. In the middle there is a dead desiccated hulk! Like a vampire but not. A nature check shows it looks like a spider's work and there is some webbing on the hulk. A phase spider could have done this, moving into an enclosed gap.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes returns with umber hulk mandibles 'cause they are worth loot. The second tunnel rubble pile is more than 40 feet and eventually goes up. There are two umber hulk tunnels joining the tunnel explored by Orestes.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes emerges into a very old mine tunnel judging by the support timber condition and is not even in Undertower. The tunnel forks and both of those are collapsed, likely due to natural collapse.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul maps the location of the rubble and continue in our original direction. The rubble was also marked with a torch bit.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul notices an "unknown person" has momentarily joined the party following behind him. Snogmaul "messages" Ashlyn to return to the group. The person could have been dark haired/hooded/shadowy. We resume movement and Crow takes up the rear guard. We are all looking for "it." Back 20 feet behind Crow is a shadowy figure which melts into the wall as we all look at it. Vargas uses his knowledge of Arcana to determine what "it" is; could be a variety of creatures connected to the shadow plane but it is not just a spell. Kyle reminds the party we fought a shadow demon up in town in the tent.Snogmaul (Peter D.) we tighten the party marching order in an effort to keep us within reach of each other; [delay of game... 23 minutes... dinner order]Snogmaul (Peter D.) about 40 feet away we see a shadowy figure (only Ashlyn and Snogmaul can see it) and hear a voice ask "Do you know what you are seeking." "There is a thing here and it does not belong" Ashlyn asks, "Is it capable of getting into places." The shadow responds, "Yes and its children. You have two choices to find it or seal off the area and save the surface people. I can provide some guidance but you will have to trust me." Ashlyn says that she is willing to trust the shadow. Using his advantage he got a 19. A quiet voice says, "She's lying. Kill her now before she hurts you," in Ashlyn's head. She then asks aloud, "Who wants to see you dead." The shadowy voice says, "We have been discussing the same." Ashlyn tells the shadow that a voice is telling him to attack. The shadow responds that it cannot talk more until Ashlyn is on the surface. Ashlyn relays the messages.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The party begins to return to the surface. {Ha ha} We don't get very far. There are at least a dozen; 6 in front and 6 behind. Initiative! We are in an 8 ft wide ; 3 on the floor in a line and 3 on the floor on the ceiling both in front and in the back. Ashlyn commits to hitting a wounded spider with her staff after a spell is cast. Shade casts ice storm on the six spiders in the back. Two make their save and four failed for bludgeoning and cold damage of 28 pts or half. One spider dies and the others are hurt. Now Ashlyn strikes (the spiders are AC 13) and then she does 21 total pts and a second spider dies. Shade casts ice storm again using an action surge. The second storm does 20 pts dmg to the second group of spiders. None die but all are injured.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The hallway floor bursts open and black tentacles come forth from the floor and grab the injured spiders. The tentacles even grab the spiders off the ceiling. One of the spiders gets torn in half. There are six live spiders and one live spider with the tentacles. Brother Lucius cast for 26 pts of dmg using fire ball. Two more go down. And another one. So there are two spiders in front and one behind. Snogmaul fires at the one grabbed by the tentacles and does 20 pts dmg. Crow moves to attack one of the remaining two. He does 15 pts of dmg killing it. Crow misses his second attack. Action surges and hits for 14 pts dmg and down goes the last spider. Vargas relaxes and stretches.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We resume our way out. It is not easy travel as we are moving up and out. We are harassed all the way out. Each party member takes a few hits. Snogmaul is bitten and poisoned as is Vargas. Snogmaul is healed by Brother. Later Brother Lucius is bitten for 15 pts dmg and is poisoned for 6 pts. Lucius heals himself for 8 hp. Orestes is bitten and poisoned 25 pts dmg. and then healed by Brother Lucius. Crow is bitten twice and saved on both and then is healed by Brother Lucius. Ashlyn is attacked and missed three times. We kill are the spiders after they bite us.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The spiders seem to be limited to the umber hulk tunnels and do not move into the active mining area.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow turns in the set of mandibles for the reward of 2000 gp. Ashlyn volunteers that we may have discovered the reason the hulks are moving up... lots of phase spiders. Crass is is shocked that over 30 phase spiders. Crass says that there is a dryder, which means there is an army. Crass says that dryders command phase spiders and can change orders. He says that there is more than a threat. There must be some purpose. Sounds like border patrol. A dryder is half down spider, half up drow. Thirty spiders must be an army commanded so that the spiders do not set on each other. Snogmaul remembers that drow are transported to Lolth and are put through a trial. Those that fail the trial are made into dryder. The dryders are seen as outcasts of regular drow society. The dryder are still trying to serve Lolth. The dryder are renegades operating as stand alone agents of the demon spider queen.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn goes to the Guilded Garden and reserves a secured conference room. We later meet around "tea time" at the room. Door is metal and it is very nice and there is a secret exit which we are informed. The door closes and locks and out of a shadow in the corner of the room. The drow woman speaks. She compliments Ashlyn on her good taste. She is impressed with how we handled ourselves. She says "There is a being that has a mistaken belief in its purpose. It needs to be removed." She cannot do it directly. She has other plans that she is overseeing which need to go forward. "If you can convince it to move" that would be okay. "Its connection with the hulks..." Ashlyn asks about the thoughts that were put into his head. "It has taken an enchanted item which some minds can resist." She, the drow, is talking to the only other female in the room because the males are not as mentally adept, obviously. The drow asks if any can read Elvish. She says she will leave messages along the way to guide us. "Once this is accomplished and if I were to see you I would kill you," she says. Ashlyn comments we might see each other again.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Celeste is asking lots of questions; she is doing our research for us; Yeah!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Many party members buy vials of anti-toxin. Drink it in advance, lasts for 1 hour, gain advantage on saving throws. The alchemist is looking for one 200 gp black or regular pearl. He is willing to trade an uncommon potion for it. He will also take a phase spider; it will be really hard for us to transport a whole dead spider.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul does some mapping of the town. While others wait 2 days to recharge themselves and their rings.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn casts "pass without trace" on all party members (+10 to all stealth checks); we are looking for "elf" messages on the wall; Ashlyn finds some markings that indicate "dawn, west, now" and she remembers a famous poem. "The Leftward Road" is the name of the poem says Snogmaul. We see an obstructed tunnel to the left. Ashlyn casts "silence" where we are digging. Crow will dig and Shade will also. Both make a strength check with athletics and the both make good progress. In 5 minutes they get 5 feet in. After 10 minutes the spell ends and the rubble falls away. We have broken through. There is another umber hulk tunnel angling slightly down. Ashlyn does not see it and then Brother Lucius finds it. It says "congratulations." We seem to be on the correct path.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We continue using our march order and move on. There have been side tunnels we have not chosen to explore. The tunnel behind the rubble heads down more steeply. Most of the party hears some hulks coming through the wall. There are 2 umber hulks that I can see and 2 more are bursting through the floor. So the main party is boxed in. Snogmaul runs forward to attack and is stunned into no action due to the gaze of the creatures. Shade attacked and did 7 pts dmg. Ashlyn averts her gaze and misses. Brother Lucius closes his eyes and swings to miss. The umber hulk hit Orestes for about 25 pts of dmg. One umber hulk slashes Brother for 7 pts dmg. Vargas is attacked and takes a total of 15 pts of dmg. Crow attacks with his sword and uses his action surge : misses, hits for 17 pts dmg, hits for 17 pts dmg, and hits for 13 pts dmg; Vargas averts his eyes and teleports behind Snogmaul; then he casts twin chromatic orbs for 15 and 10 pts of dmg; Snogmaul hides first and then fires a poisoned bolt and hits for 28 pts of dmg; Shade does 12 pts of dmg; Ashlyn averts her eyes and swings hitting twice 10 and 5 pts of dmg and then she backs up 10 feet to where Snogmaul was; Brother Lucius and saves to avert his eyes casting "bane" on three umber hulks closest to him (two fails and one success) causing the target to subtract 1d4 on attack rolls and saving throws and Orestes gets back 8 hp back;Snogmaul (Peter D.) #1 hulk attacks Shade and misses; #2 hulk bites Orestes once for 11 pts dmg; Orestes averts his eyes and hits for 6 pts dmg and then he uses his double fists of fury both missing; #3 hulk hits Crow for dmg of 9+ 8+ 7; #4 hulk hits Brother for 7 pts and 16 pts dmgSnogmaul (Peter D.) Crow attacks with disadvantage because he averts his eyes and does 12 pts dmg; then he misses his second attack; then second wind as a bonus action to get back 8 hp; now he has 21 hp; Vargas moves up in preparation for Brother's spell to heal; Vargas casts scorcher does 30 pts dmg to 1, 2, and 4 each; Shade is also hit by the fire for 30 but he shrugs it off; Snogmaul fires and misses after hiding successfully; Shade gets his second wind and gets back 7 hp; and then he swings and misses; Ashlyn hits for 11 pts dmg to #1; then she misses and runs back to where she was before; Brother averts his eyes and washes healing over each character of 25 hp;Snogmaul (Peter D.) #1 hulk hits Shade for 7 pts dmg; #2 hulk attacks Shade and misses; Orestes attacks with his staff with disadvantage and hits once for 7 pts and down it goes! Next comes a fist attack and misses. #3 umber hulk attacks Orestes and hits three times for a total of 35 pts "ate 'im like a sandwich"; #4 hulk attacks and hits Brother three times for 26 pts dmg; Crow tries to be "lucky" and misses his save and takes a break; Vargas casts "haste" on Ashlyn and then he casts a spell to create six spinning stones in the air with two rocks striking for 16 pts dmg "I got one!" yells Vargas. Snogmaul tries to hide and fails, then fires a bolt missing; Ashlyn sprints forward moving within 40 feet and then teleports and swings... (aka the Barry Allen attack) for 5 pts of dmg; then with hits for 6 pts and then a haste attack and misses, next to disengage; Brother Lucius gets hit for 9 pts of dmg and then casts channel divinity preserve life healing Orestes and himself;Snogmaul (Peter D.) #2 hulk attacks Shade to get to Vargas for 10 pts damage from a claw; Orestes does not look and swings twice missing and finally missing with his fist of the wind; #4 claws for 11 pts dmg to Brother; Crow attacks and misses; Vargas casts and misses then misses again; Snogmaul looks and attacks twice for 13 pts of dmg; Shade hits twice for 22 pts of dmg total; Ashlyn teleports adjacent and misses twice and hits once for 5 pts dmg; Brother misses; Shade is attacked and missed and so he responds with repoist and hits for does 12 pts of dmg; Shade is hit for 9 pts dmg with a claw; Orestes attacks for 11 pts and then he uses stunning strike but the creature made its save; #4 hulk attacks the cleric with its claw twice for 6 and 10 pts of dmg and down goes the cleric! Oh no! Somebody save the cleric so he can save us! Crow attacks with disadvantage twice and misses twice. "I'm done."Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas casts for 13 pts of dmg and drops #2 scorcher; Snogmaul feeds a potion of healing to Brother Lucius and he comes to his feet; Ashlyn does some damage to the last umber hulk; Brother Lucius disengages and then gives 8 hp to Shade and then takes 3 hp for himself; Orestes causes the creature to make a strength save and it misses taking 15 pts of bludgeoning dmg using fists of the unbroken air knocking prone; then the hulk gets up and attacks and hits three times for a total of 34 pts against Crow; Crow responds with 15 pts of dmg and the second attack is violent and sheer overkill, but necessary.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius takes 10 minutes to cast prayer of healing and everybody Snogmaul gets back 17 hp back; then Crow spends three HD and gets back 12Snogmaul (Peter D.) end of night; two moderate fights, a role play, and an escape .30 experience and we have four more sets of mandibles; we take a successful short rest; the anti-toxin wears offSnogmaul (Peter D.) back tracking to earlier in the night; Vargas converses with the Drow that talked with us in the private conference roomLegend's Dad (John S.) I wish there was some plugin for slack where it could replace what you type with things more personalized to me like "matt got his ass handed to him and was saved by his son Andre, or like 'Mark rolled a 1 twice in his attempt to recharge his staff'Legend's Dad (John S.) (and yes, i'm jealous that i have no free-time to play and i end up just making mean and snarky comments on slack. )</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) john, at least you are participating; you could add to session notes as we go during a sessionLoyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) Live snarking!Session 13--2017.03.11Snogmaul (Peter D.) BEGIN SESSION March 11Snogmaul (Peter D.) What to do with the drow enchanted items? Some party members think know that some people say the Drow do not exist. Common sense tells us that asking about trading stuff from Drow will draw a lot of attention. We know the Drow exist. We also know that the Drow will have agents on the surface and that the Drow will not like us having "their stuff."Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow suggests that maybe we want to trade it back over to our Drow contact. It seems unlikely that we could get anything other than "getting off of the Drow hit list." Store three items in our vault in the estate. We have a long rest at the estate. It is a pretty safe trip between the mining area and the estate. We go to the surface to meet with Crass. We go to see Crass on Tier 1 where his office is. We tell him "We killed 8 umber hulks," with a reward of 2000 GP each. Ashlyn also tells him that we fought and killed a Dryder that was controlling the hulks. There were also a lot of phase spiders. We killed most of them but there are still some. Crass says that as long as the miners are in groups they should be safe from the spiders. We are "staying in the good graces of the mining company." We also came across some evidence that the dryder may have stolen the adament (sp) ore. Ashlyn shows the sample to Crass. He asks for testing material to check if it actually adament. He confirms it is what we say it is. We believe that the umber hulks took the ore. Crass asks if we know how much we are talking about. Crass says he would be interested in recovery. "Do you think you could secure the passage long enough for my crews to get the ore," asks Crass. "We got the sample from where the Dryder was," says Ashlyn. Vargas and Ashlyn are suspected of not being totally forthcoming regarding the ore.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crass says, "It is property of the mining company." Crass says that he "would prefer to have his men bring back the ore." We are to let him know when we have secured the path to the ore. Vargas wants to be notified when the refined ore is available for purchase. Crass will notify us. Total payment for the job just completed was 26000 GP in trade gems. Crass also tells us that we should contact Erika Stonehammer the blacksmith.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn goes to the Beserker bar and leaves word she wants to meet with Groma regarding a retrieval fund/job. Then we all go to the blacksmith. She is capable of having enchantments placed on items. She tells us that she wanted to see us because she has been getting requests for armor. Cras has been needing the stuff for his workers. She has some blood iron. The land sharks harassed the hill giants that brought the blood iron in. Erika tells us that the land sharks plates can be made into armor. They have the ability to sense other creatures up to a quarter mile away. Back towards the parripets (sp); maybe 3 or 4 days journey. Ashlyn asks how much per plate. She responds with shield sized would be 2000, smaller plates down to 500 GP. Some could be tower shield size would be very unusual and be worth 5000 GP.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Rod of Rulership goes to Vargas due to his bonus in persuasion. Most likely to be talking to others. Maybe even giants that we want to bypass. The helmet may come from Illythid and would be used by a trusted slave to control lesser slaves. She will make a brass covering and will cost 50 GP and 3 days. Vargas will also take the helmet.Snogmaul (Peter D.) While at the Guilded Garden, Ashlyn is informed that Lady Sylvia wants to have dinner with her. At dinner, Sylvia is in the dining room alone. She has some news and some questions. The House is pleased with your progress and she will be his local contact. The question: What did you find? Ashlyn says that we found the source of problem for the miners. She tells about the umber hulks, the dryder and the ore. Based on the tests, it was okay ore. She asks, "How many crews they lost? Will they be resuming operations?" Ashlyn passes on that he (Cras) will be contracting more work from the blacksmith. Sylvia wants some of the operation shut down. Something about a hobgoblin force down deeper. The miners need to be kept from the hobgoblin operatives. Sylvia suggests that we do this under the cover of "regular adventuring." We are to get "half of any relics/enchanted items." We would get all money. There may also be some records and books. If amongst the collection we find these items we may read them over and then pass them on to her. The tribe count numbered 30. We need to verify that all are accounted for. They may have some unusual resources. The Fist of Magluviate (goblin god) cleric and a set of trained hell hounds. They may also have caged monsters, like a troll. A fairly resourceful tribe. Sylvia wants to make sure the tribe does not outlive its usefulness. There is no urgency as long as Cras does not resume his work. The hobgoblin lair is on tier 10 between spokes 3 and 4. Possibly near rib 5.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius checks on the house where the weretiger attack took place. One of the bartenders is living there now. The family asked him to look after the house until there return. We are offered room in the house should we like to use it.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas is going to do a show in 3 days! He might use the helmet (to read audience members' thoughts in the future). Also includes a light show. On the third day the show and gets 20 GP for the two shows. He upgrades the show with some of his cantrips; maybe mirror image.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow goes to a taxidermist's trophy shop and embalming to see about getting the dryder head stuffed. The shopkeeper looks it over and then asks Crows if we had cut into it yet? He says, "No." We will split the recovered of poison. Dryder is going to have a "fear" expression; clearly it feared us just before we killed it. He will keep one of the venom sacks and then will give Crow the venom from the other sack. Crow suggests there might be something to be done with the land shark. We need to return with a whole specimen. Dryder poison vial; 3 does , DC 16 con save and dmg 2d8; introduced via weapon attack. Entrance is where you go to the Hollow Sage. He can pull poison out of specimens. More to this guy than we know.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Drombar or his ax is needs to be with us when we go after the hobgoblins. (note for the future)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) At Beserker, Gromba will meet Ashlyn in the evening of the second day. Give her 2000 GP as a bond for our retrieval should we disappear for more than 30 days; all player character names and descriptions. We need to check in with her so we don't inadvertently engage her services. (The players do not have to actually do the check in.) Ashlyn makes a special note of Crow and his malringer status.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade and Vargas are upgrading there living arrangements.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn tells the party about the hobgoblins as we head out to get land sharks. It is entering the rainy season. The party goes shopping for healing potions etc prior to leaving.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn purchases a wagon with two draft horses. Each could carry 500 lbs. They could pull about 1600 lbs in the cart (people and stuff). The horses cannot dash while pulling the cart. Brother gets two extra horses; gets rope and block 'n' tackle is bought by Crow; Shade bought a horse; Snogmaul is in the wagon; also Vargas gets a horseLegend's Dad (John S.) ashlyn is matt rightSnogmaul (Peter D.) We will have to depart from common roads; land sharks are off the main path; due west is our heading; traveling in the day time; Crow is flying at walking speed and will distance scout; he is about 120 ft above us; we are on the open plain; only Crow notices some dark spots on the ground, 20 ft long and 5 ft wide off in the distance, could be scorch mark from fire dragons; maybe a 1/2 mile to the south of our current location; Ashlyn is asking if anybody wants to turn backAshlyn (Matt M.) SOP First watch: Orestes and Vargas 2nd Shade and Crow 3rd watch Ashlyn and Snogmaul Last watch Ashlyn and LuciusAshlyn (Matt M.) <@U0D4TS341|deckofmanythings> pinned a message to this channel.Legend's Dad (John S.) crow is mark, rightLegend's Dad (John S.) you guys could just type "yes" occasionallySnogmaul (Peter D.) it is starting to get dark and we need to find a place to camp for the night; there is a small rise to the north and to the south there is a small hollow; we go to the hollow; Ashlyn will meditate while Snogmaul drives the wagon the following day; during the fourth hour we hear a roar in the distance; during the fifth hour hear something woosh by above us; we stay quiet; all of us hear a roar and it is a lot closer and wakes the rest the party! sounds like a lionSnogmaul (Peter D.) we armor up under the cover of silence spell cast on us; Snogmaul moves outside the radius of the spell as he is armored already, Vargas joins Snogmaul; Snogmaul hears a flapping sound to the west and Vargas hears and maybe sees something in the sky probably something dragon like; we hear the roar again along with a hissing sound and a little baaing; we see an enormous creature and it is breathing fireSnogmaul (Peter D.) the chimera breathes fire and Vargas takes 9 pts dmg and Snogmaul takes 18 pts dmg; and Vargas responds with hellish rebuke doing 13 pts dmg, not clear if it was affected; Vargas follows up with twin chromatic orbs of lightning for 21 pts of dmg; Brother Lucius fires magic missile for 14 pts of dmg; Crow fires a burst of four poison arrows for 9 pts dmg, miss, miss, miss; Snogmaul casts catapult and misses and then he hides; Shade casts eldritch blast and misses; the chimera moves to attack with goat ram on Ashlyn for 20 pts dmg; the chimera is on the groundSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn and the chimera are now 120-140 away from the rest of the group; Brother fires magic missile and does 10 pts dmg; Crow fires chain lightning doing 46 pts dmg killing it blowing into pieces! Wow!Snogmaul (Peter D.) The heads are in great shape and we can take it back to town with us.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas knows that chimera hunt like dragons and treat their kills like lions do; the chimera will stash their kills someplace to finish eating later; we could find the lair where loot might be; in a day or two with our fliers we could figure out where the lair would likely be; Crow is interested in searching; Snogmaul, using Vargas' boots, and Crow fly off to search; we determine the range to the south and east and now know those edges during the first day; it rains that nightLegend's Dad (John S.) What's the current goal?Legend's Dad (John S.) Of the party, I meanSnogmaul (Peter D.) the second day we find nothing, unable to tell where the northern edge is, Snogmaul rolled a 1; the rain continues harder and it is getting more slushy; on the third day Crow sees a sign of a lair, casting of bones out in the grasses; Snogmaul smells something like sulfur and then heads toward it, in the hollow of a hill, something has been gouged out and a hollow, been dug out; something big; Crow waits and tries to hear something else; are chimera solitary thinks Snogmaul, probably areLegend's Dad (John S.) (Other than leveling)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) get trophies for the bar seems to be our new goal; we were supposed to be hunting land sharksLegend's Dad (John S.) So you set off looking for land shark trophies and instead encountered things that are dragon-like, and it turns out to be chimeras? That's got my thumbs upSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul and Crow return to the camp and the party heads to the lair; there is evidence of prior kills, some animal and some humanoid; some dwarvishLegend's Dad (John S.) FYI, having read this for awhile.... Never 100% trust what Crow saysLegend's Dad (John S.) Crow has other agendasAshlyn (Matt M.) Are you mixing up Ashlyn and Crow?Legend's Dad (John S.) NoLegend's Dad (John S.) Crow is like 70%Legend's Dad (John S.) Ashlyn is like 10% true agendaLegend's Dad (John S.) It's all so obvious from the notesLegend's Dad (John S.) AND from the playersLegend's Dad (John S.) Mark likes to be a little slyLegend's Dad (John S.) But Matt likes to be double spy of any groupAshlyn (Matt M.) We're going to vote to kick out Crow based on this new information you've given usLegend's Dad (John S.) lolLegend's Dad (John S.) Matt is ALWAYS the cylonLegend's Dad (John S.) Mark just always SEEMS like he's the cylonSnogmaul (Peter D.) among the collection: loose coins totalling 16 gp 65 silver and 40 cp, brass mugs with jade inlay worth 200-300 gp each; there is a bond that is for payment to Erika for cash and an enchanted item in exchange for "+3" hammer; Thorsen clan dwarves; seems like the group of dwarves was on its way to complete the purchase; there is also a commerce pouch with coins (these in treasure slack)</b>Legend's Dad (John S.) I'd love to hear how sneaky Andre rates MattSnogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul is mapping the area and the location of the cavern/lairSnogmaul (Peter D.) experience = .2 new level 6.9Legend's Dad (John S.) Ooooo Snogmaul is an awesome person to do thatLegend's Dad (John S.) It's like his forteLegend's Dad (John S.) Unlike sneaky, failing Ashlyn. Using her own, private mages to send Messages. So sad. Failing.Crow (Mark W.) Ermagad 6.9 :confounded:Loyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) **sad trombone**Crow (Mark W.) maybe if we did moar role-playing we'd get more experience, just sayin...Crow (Mark W.) <ducks>Orestes (Robt. G.) MOAR!GM (Kyle B.) 5% band performance, +10% difficult crowdBr. Lucius (Jim Y.) You're right Mark! We'd probably get a lot more story exp if we didn't keep slowing things down with time-consuming combats!Br. Lucius (Jim Y.) <looks for the face-palm>Loyal Opposition (Celeste Y.) :facepalm:Session 14--2017.05.6Snogmaul (Peter D.) BEGIN SESSION, May 6Snogmaul (Peter D.) The party is heading west. Crow is "eye in the sky" and sees something that looks like a half dozen guys surrounding a horse. Crow passes on his observation. Crow suggests rescuing the "horse." We head toward the other group. As we approach they spread out into a skirmish line and they seem to have super heavy crossbows at the ready. Behind the skirmish line is a horse that is tied with multiple ropes. The guys have banners and kite shields; seem to be Malringers. Snogmaul holds in place. At about 100 ft we are hailed. The speaker asks who we are. Crow speaks and says he is "Crow son of (bla)." The other group's speaker says that his group is also hunting. Crow approaches with long bow in hand. The other leader says that Wyvern are out here. We thought it was eating our horses (brought for bait). The leader is Ilyana (drake flayer, status). Ilyana is missing horses and 6 of her crew. Missing malringers are bonded and so if we come upon them in any state they can be returned to be brought back to life.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow explains that the other party is hunting for Wyvern. He goes on to explain they have lost some guys and bait horses. The bounty typically is 5 to 20,000 is paid by the Duke (of Malring). There are seven in the hunting party. We are not willing to use our horses as bait. On a nature roll, Crow knows that the bait horses were not good riding horses. Old nags are used as bait. Brother Lucius preserves the chimera heads via a spell. Crow also knows that Wyvern young attack randomly; while the mature adults are more canny. An old wise wyvern will likely stay clear of a large party. Ilyana says that there is at least one old wyvern and she may have found a mate. Worse yet it may have young. Malring is trying to operate farms in this area to supplement their food sources.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The wyvern may be in the parapets. Side note: it is a week to two to Malring. Crow has been gone from Malring for about a year. Ilyana also mentions that if we cannot come back to Malring right away she will give us a promissory note. She says that we are to injure the wyvern just enough to convince it to return to its lair. Ilyana is concerned that Crow should be seen flying and following it. Ilyana suggest 100 ft or more from the staked horse. Ashlyn will be with our horses and wagon, 200 ft from the bait. Crow and the other Malringers are about 150 ft away in a circle with the bait . Snogmaul is 60 ft away and casts an illusion that he is a boulder. Shade is 120 from the bait horse. The time is... midday.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Wyvern's have a tail that sting. We are waiting all day and it does not show up. We are sitting around the campfire and we are talking. We find out that it has been raiding farms in the area. When the farms are guarded the wyvern does not attack. The primary target is a female, may have a secondary male, and there are quite possibly offspring. Older Wyvern have a lot of venom and it is very dangerous. Look out for wings, claws and teeth, but the tail is the worst; stinging damage and poison. We share watches. The hunters have "no smell" used to mask the smell of our party.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The hunting party has been out here for a month. Day 2 of the stake out... Attack using weapons that make it bleed. Many magic attacks will cause bleeding. Snogmaul gets a perception check of 27 and Brother gets a 22 and they notice there is something in the sky, moving between the clouds. Very high flight path. Nature checks, Snogmaul thinks "Wyvern don't fly high. It would also have to have great eyesight. It must also must have a very low body weight to really big wings." Brother tells the two people beside him.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The wyvern is making its first pass and some of us get to attack. Snogmaul fires an arrow from his short bow and hits for 6 pts dmg. Maulringer fires and arbalest and does 15 pts dmg. Ilyana fires her arbalest for 24 pts dmg. This happens as the wyvern dives in for the prey. Shade hits the horse with eldritch blast for 6 pts dmg. Vargas casts meteor and cause explosions to either side of the wyvern to encourage it to move on. Vargas casts ray of frost to slow the wyvern. The hunting party gears up and heads out.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn follows on foot, a very fast foot. She leaves a trail for the rest of the group to follow. The wyvern does not fly as high as it was when it arrived. Crow is flying to make seeing easier and unobstructed. The wyvern is going to keep going to the foothills of the parapets. We have never seen nor heard of a wyvern this big. The wingspan could be 100 ft across. The horse is dead for sure. Ashlyn is going to have trouble following it due to terrain, hills.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Evening is coming. Something is just below the surface of the earth and it is following Ashlyn at a pace of 40 ft. Ashlyn attempts to "pass without a trace" and the creature goes right by her. She sees a fin go flashing by just 20 ft away from her. And she returns to the cart and the rest of the pary.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The sun goes behind the mountains. We will have to resume in the morning. Snogmaul thinks about land sharks and Vargas also knows. Land sharks attack until killed. The sharks also like wee folk and animals like horses. Snogmaul says, usually the sharks are solitary unless it is the springtime when mating happens. We are in the "bad time." The land sharks were actually created not born, says Vargas. Therefore, they may not actually mate. So land sharks and owl bears are similar. There are many similarities between tarrasque and land sharks. Snogmaul in the cart pulled by horses is not happy. Land sharks are active in both day and nighttime.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius passes on what we know about land sharks to Ilyana. Ilyana votes to camp on the soft earth. Shade advocates for camping on the rocks. We set up camp in the rocky area. Ashlyn returns and finds us setting up camp. She recounts how she avoided the bulette. The party eats and rests. She casts pass without trace all creatures within 30 ft of Ashlyn.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow gets a stealth check of 36 and Snogmaul gets a 37. Brother Lucius and Orestes miss their stealth check. Fortunately there were no land sharks. Nobody got et during the night, including the horses.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The malingers are ready to head out and have located the trail. Both Crow and Vargas are flying. Ashlyn is driving the cart with Snogmaul riding. Late in the morning we hear, then see a land shark furrow off to our left. Snogmaul yells to the hunting party to alert them to the impending land shark. He then pulls a weasel from his Bag of Tricks, which he dismisses. Orestes flies toward the shark and casts shatter. DC13 to not shatter and it does but still takes a total of 5 pts dmg. The land shark closes in on the horse team drawing the cart; uses a double move. A second shark closes in from the right and it leaps from the earth and tries to land on Brother Lucius. He uses a charge and saves and move to an adjacent space. He also takes bludgeoning dmg for 15 pts. Lucius' horse is hurt for lots and is squished with guts splattering (more than twice its HP). Vargas is firing twin electrical orbs for 26 pts and 12 pts.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The malringers move to engage the shark attacking Brother Lucius. Blades out and shields up! Four attacks and they miss. Crow drops down to the ground and attacks four times, action surging and double attack on the shark next to the cart. He misses three times and hits once. He does 14 pts dmg. Ashlyn hits once and misses once for 12 pts of dmg on the shark next to the cart. Beacon of Hope is cast by Brother Lucius on all malringers and PCs. (retcon: malringer did 11 pts dmg to the shark on Lucius from earlier). Ilyana uses her long spear on the shark near Lucius doing two attacks for 14 pts of dmg.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade dodges. Snogmaul does 13 and 12 pts of dmg with the Cartographer's Quill to the shark (cart). Orestes does Fist of Unbroken Air and the creature near the cart 10 pts of dmg. The sharks attack! One tries to bite Crow and misses. The other shark attacks Shade and misses. Shade riposte and hits for 7 pts dmg. Vargas casts haste on Crow. The malringers all attack with their long pointy spears! They all hit for a total of 38 pts dmg and it dies! Yeah! (over 100 pts of dmg) Ashlyn shouts out that she is willing to share the 50 GP bounty for the killed land shark. (LOL) The third shark leaps out of the ground. Two malringers are knocked to the ground taking 28 pts dmg each. The third shark attacks Shade and bites him for 30 pts dmg. Ouch!Snogmaul (Peter D.) When what should happen... but a fourth land shark bursts forth and squishes two more malringers with one being knocked prone taking 26 pts dmg and the other taking 13 pts dmg. The shark bites the prone malringer and does 30 pts dmg. He is not dead. Whoa! Crows is hasted and makes two attacks and a spell. The first attack is a crit for 21 pts, second is for 13 pts, moves five feet (and is attacked by a land shark for 21 pts dmg) and casting chain lightning for 49 pts dmg killing the shark by the cart and seriously hurting the last two sharks.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ash teleports under one of them, rolls a crit, missed with second attack, but hits for 14 damage, then disengages 309' away. Brother cast Mass Cure Wounds for 35 hp of healing. "Nice," says Orestes. Brother says, "Now stop getting hurt." Ilyana missed. Shade dodges. Snogmaul 11 pts dmg and 22 pts Orestes checks for other incoming sharks. Vargas casts Scorching Ray for 18 pts dmg. The malringers stab it and kill the last one. Hurray! Lots of harvesting to be done.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The agreement said that we would get 500, 1000, and 2000 gp for plates of the sharks. Our efforts garners us 12 shield size plates and 32 smaller (8 medium and 24 small) with the help of Ilyana (natural 20 for harvesting). Brother Lucius casts guidance on Ilyana. Super! In trade small is common magic, medium is uncommon, and large is rare.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We take the afternoon to do the harvesting and it is about nightfall. Snogmaul searches for a place to camp. The party is satisfied with the location Snogmaul finds. The location has limited visibility to the left and right. Good view of forward to the plains and above.Snogmaul (Peter D.) At night, during the watch of Orestes, he sees some stars go away and then come back. He watches a little more closely and it seems to be a wyvern. He looks and he is sure it is circling the carcasses. Vargas sees only stars 'cause Orestes did not get Vargas' attention. Orestes wakes Crow. Orestes also tells one of the malringers on watch at the time. On the second watch; Shade sees nothing, Crow sees something with horns flying above, not as big as a wyvern. Crow decides that it could be the male wyvern. Ilyana confirms it is a male wyvern. She is hoping that there are not hatchlings.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Morning comes. Pancakes, fruit and coffee is served during the morning briefing. Ilyana shares info with us. The mated pair will fight to the death when protecting the nest. We are not to attack the eggs because it will drive the wyverns into a frenzy. The horns of the male are weapons. The wings of the female able to buffet and knock warriors to the ground. The adults will pump you full of venom. The little wyverns still have poison that can kill. We should kill the adults as far away from the nest as possible. She suspects that the lair is a cavern of some sort. We should keep them from flying.Snogmaul (Peter D.) We find a couple of places that could be wyvern lairs. We see a bloody stain at the top near a spire. Crow will rise to get a better look. The wyvern is curled up and resting. Crow checks for horns and determines there are no horns. Crow reports to Ilyana. How to get there? Eggs possibly hatched already. The malringers have climbing gear. The wyvern nest is 200 ft up.Crow (Mark W.) Ilyana asks Crow "How did you do that? You appear to be a warrior but you can fly and summon lightning! If the Duke had such as you in his service, I'm sure I would have heard of you before now." Crow considers his answer and says "My friends and I are adventurers, exploring the Undertower. On one of our sessions I came into possession off an item that allows me to use those powerful magics. This came about whilst I was on a mission the Duke is aware of to avenge the destruction of my family."Snogmaul (Peter D.) Experience: 5% for role play about back story stuff, 5 % for quest completion of land sharks, 10% for actual fight with land sharks, 5% for tracking wyverns and planning for the fight; level gain will actually take place at the end of the wyvern fightSession 15--2017.06.10Snogmaul (Peter D.) Begin Session June 10Snogmaul (Peter D.) We are at the rock spire which has the nesting wyvern at the top. The next is 200 ft up. It is cloudy with a chance of rain. It is afternoon and the light is generally behind the spire. (We begin by setting up miniatures. Kyle seems to think we will need them.)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) initiatives: Ashlyn 16, Brother 13, Crow 21, Orestes 5, Shade 4, Snogmaul and Vargas both at 10Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow flies to an elevation of 230 ft and then verbally taunts the wyvern. The wyvern takes the bait and flies to attack Crow. Crow is able to see a half dozen hatchlings. Crow reacts by firing a chain lightning. He does (10d8 dmg) 50 pts of dmg with a dex save for half dmg. The wyvern takes dmg and three of the six hatchlings die. "Charge attack" by the wyvern on Crow tail first and hits. 17 dmg piercing and poison dmg of 18 (half of the 37 rolled). Two maulringers attack successfuly for a total of 18 pts dmg. Orestes can't do anything, passes. Shade moves to be nearly under the creature. The wyvern calls to her mate and an answer is heard. The answering wyvern can be seen moving in after it drops something to the ground. Snogmaul fires his shortbow and misses. (17 to hit misses)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow falls 225 ft and then uses fly to stop 5 ft above ground level. And then he prepares to engage in melee. The maulringers reload their weapons. Ashlyn shadowsteps and then dodges toward the spire. Brother Lucius moves toward Crow and cures 10 hp on Crow. He then readies fireball. Snogmaul hides and then fires his shortbow and hits for a total of 22 pts of dmg. The wyvern returns to the nest without attacking. Orestes readies "shatter." Shade moves toward the spire and then readies eldritch blast. Everybody sees the second wyvern. It will be here next round.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Top of the round: Crow uses his second wind and gets out his long bow. All maulringers are ready to fire when a wyvern is in range. Ashlyn gets ready to shadow step toward the spire. Everybody except Crow has the benefit of Beacon of Hope from Brother Lucius. Snogmaul hides (gets a 13) and then readies to fire the short bow. Orestes follows Ashlyn. The second wyvern is nearly upon us, but high above us. It is a male as it is horned.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Top of the round: Crow lands on the ground and poisons some arrows. Ashlyn continues to move up the spire and also prepares to dodge should she need to do so. Brother prepares to shoot the wyvern with wand of magic missile. Snogmaul attempts to hide again and gets 16. Vargas continues to do as he has done after he moves to be in the middle of the maulringers. Orestes and Shade continue to prepare their spells. The male wyvern spots Ashlyn on the cliff side. The male wyvern attacks with his horns and Ashlyn dodges. Ashlyn takes 14 points of piercing dmg. Brother fires a magic missile for 13 pts damage. Orestes casts shatter and the wyvern takes half thunder dmg for 6 pts. Snogmaul fires the short bow and does 18 pts dmg. Shade hits with Eldritch blast and does 9 pts dmg. Vargas is out of range and so holds position.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow moves to within 100 ft of the male wyvern and fires four arrows: rolls a 1, a 2, a 2 and a 10 with a total of 17. He does 5 piercing and 8 poison dmg if the wyvern did not save. Ilyana fires and hits doing 18 pts of dmg to the male wyvern. Ashlyn uses her martial arts skills to attack and hits with a 14. She does 5 pts of dmg. She then does a flurry of blows and gets two more hits, 8 and 9 pts of dmg. Then she uses "stunning strike" and the wyvern is stunned after missing the third save. It takes a little falling dmg. Other attacks will be at advantage now. The maulringers fire and all six hit the wyvern. The arbelists (sp) do a total 59 pts of dmg and it DIES! It tumbles further down the spire side.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul moves forward and hides behind another rock. Ashlyn and the rest of the party see the female wyvern fly off with the three hatchlings!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Now what? Tracking the injure wyvern? Check out the nest? The horses could be bait. Or we could send the wagon with the loot back to town. Orestes hands off a potion of climbing. Ashlyn climbs to the top of the spire.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow flies to the top of the ridge to see what he can see. The female wyvern flies up higher and higher then flies through a pass to the right. He also sees where the edges of the rock fall and now knows the best route to the top. He can tell the party which way to go and it has clear visibility to help us avoid being surprise attacked.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn, Shade, Orestes, and Vargas go to the top of the spire. And they find... the three charred wyverns, lots of "wyvern filth." There seems to be some equipment. Search levels: dive into poop, use a tool to dig, or nope. Orestes, Shade, Vargas and Crow decide to be "all in." Ashlyn goes nope, then half ass.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Orestes finds a gold ring, pair of large bracelets, gem stone pendant; 250 gp each for the 4 itemsSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn finds a box of turquoise figures 250 gp value, a gold bird cage 250 pg value, long sword (very well made and it may be enchanted), and a pouch with 90 ppSnogmaul (Peter D.) Crow finds a very well made mace, possibly blood iron and could be enchanted, pouches of coins 400 gp and 250 gp and 500 silverSnogmaul (Peter D.) Shade finds fabric possibly some sort of mantle with runes, 1000 cp in a pouchSnogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas finds several coin purse 500 gp, 150 gp and 1000 sp, traveling cash box with 2500 spSnogmaul (Peter D.) Maulringers find nothing except a lyreSnogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius uses "locate creature" to find the wyvern. No searching needed! Yeah! We attack.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn casts pass with out a trace (plus 10 to stealth checks). Crow consumes anti-toxin. It is now around 4 PM and it is sprinkling.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius 15Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn 10Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul 6Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade 9Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow 15Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas 5Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother Lucius is going to fire ball the mama if the wyvern is present. Ashlyn casts silence on the group. We are moving forward within a 20 ft radius of Ashlyn.Orestes (Robt. G.) Go team go!Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother casts is fire ball for 23 pts dmg to the female wyvern. We don't see the hatchlings at this point but suspect they are under the female. Crow flies to land in front of the wyvern and attacks using an action surge. (uses a chip) Crow hits for 13 pts and 16 pts and misses and misses and 15 pts!!! Wyvern DIES!!! Wow Crow! Our team maulringer wins! Crow has never skinned a creature, gets a little magical assistance, and perfectly skins the wyvern (natural 20). Well done. He is now "Drake Flayer Crow."Snogmaul (Peter D.) The hatchlings are dead.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn runs to catch the wagon en route and tells that group they should wait for the rest of us. We all gather the next morning. We do some calculations to determine the value of the creature parts we have collected. The value for wyverns: hatchlings, female wyvern, male wyvern 35000. Bulettes was 44000 gp. The total of wyvern loot (read cash value) is 4000 gp give or take.Snogmaul (Peter D.) we trade away the lyre and mace. boomSnogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn, Crow, Shade and Brother Lucius head towards Malring. The rest of the party returns with the cart to Undertower.Snogmaul (Peter D.) It is very difficult to get to the Duchy of Malring. Guides lead people to the city and travelers are blindfolded so that they cannot know nor tell the way to Malring. There are ballista towers built into the cliff walls along the way. There are also magic users that can defend against air assaults. There are rings of defense in the city proper. There may be 30% of the population that is warforged. This is higher than before. A warforged could be a spirit from a raised person. The duke may have discovered the way to create warforged.Snogmaul (Peter D.) In Malring proper, there have been some serious attacks. There is also some new construction that seems to be replacing damaged buildings. Malringers hate dragons, period. There were two times when the dragons almost wiped out mankind. A human fought an ancient dragon to collapse. And humanoids and dragons made an agreement. The second time was when Malring wiped out dragons in certain areas. There are some that say the Malring made deals with demons to fight dragons. The duke has been around for quite awhile. The duke has not been seen out of his armor. There is even rumor the duke himself may be warforged. The party is brought before the Duke of Malring. The duke does not sit on his thrown.Snogmaul (Peter D.) When seeing the duke there are two more hunters, Ilyana plus eight. The two "extras" are warforged; they may be the fallen hunters. The duke is known to fight. He is dressed for battle in full plate. The duke engages Ilyana and Ashlyn in conversation. The duke asks to be shown Ashlyn's moves. Ashlyn shadow steps a few times and then takes a strike with her quarter staff at the Duke's back of knee. She is successful. 9 pts of dmg and the duke's knee gives some.Snogmaul (Peter D.) full name: Lady Ashlyn Winterbloom, Lady of the Court of Shadows of Undertower, Drake FlayerSnogmaul (Peter D.) The duke congratulates Crow achieve the status of Drake Flayer. Crow explains that he used sword and a magic artifact that casts spells. The duke says that we must keep secret the magic items that can harm dragons. The duke himself does not even want to know more about the artifact. Breaking a command of the duke results in being removed from the list of those that could be brought back.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Experience: two medium fights 10% each; wyvern quest complete 5%, role play 5%; for a total of 30%Snogmaul (Peter D.) 7.45 Experience LevelSession 16--2017.07.01Snogmaul (Peter D.) BEGIN SESSION - July 1, 2017Snogmaul (Peter D.) follow-up to audience with the Duke of MalringSnogmaul (Peter D.) the duke points out that Crow travels with a "dragon", asks to be advised of progress; the duke also says that he knows what Crow is looking for; there may be some ways in Undertower for dragons/dragonkind to the parapets; the duke goes on to say that Malring is not trying to get rid of ALL dragons, just those in the parapets; Crow looks for advice regarding dealing with things in the future; nothing concrete is given; Crow withholds info about the other rings our party has; Crow is finishedSnogmaul (Peter D.) in the Duchy there are more warforged moving about the city; Brother Lucius moves about the town and heals injured people, especially those involved in combat in defense of the duchy; Brother goes to the temple area and the locals are impressed, mostly people with religious powers are "in the field"; Crow looks to produce armor out of the dragon hide/scales he got; Ashlyn looks to make bracers from dragon scalesSnogmaul (Peter D.) Shade spends a day searching the town for "the guild" but does not have much luck; Ashlyn looks for someone to enchant her bracers; Illyana says that the kingdom of the west usually does enchanting for the Duchy and she goes on to suggest that Ashlyn ask the Duke;Snogmaul (Peter D.) At the Feast of the Duke; Celebration of a Successful Drake killSnogmaul (Peter D.) The party if active but no one is overdoing it, drinking yes but just some, dancing yes but just some, all in attendance carry melee weapons and crossbow, even those that are serving food; charisma checks with Brother and Crow find out from people who have been on the front line there have been recent attacks from the air and they are working to find underground passages; (red dragons and one even knows some spells) usually Malringers are the aggressors but in this case the dragons are coming to the fight; the one that is a spell caster is likely an older dragons; it could be a powerplay for the old red dragon, it is not obvious where there the lair is; it might be to the south, Malringers are moving south even digging to find tunnels or active volcanic passages; Vargas meets a person using his natural charisma; the person may be part drow and part draconic, she is wearing Malringer gear; she sizes up Vargas and then asks why you would "risk coming here?" Vargas says that his party is here and that he is searching for something here in Malring. He hints at the Shadowfell to see if the "person" responds in a knowing fashion. She questions if Vargas is in fact related to the shadow that defend the scaled city. She goes on tell Vargas that he nothing to worry about from the duke and maybe he should even swear fealty to the duke. In the future, Vargas may be under suspicion by others in the duchy.Snogmaul (Peter D.) There is a moment of recognition for the Drakeslayers! Yeah! The party is spending the night in a couple of rooms. Ashlyn and Crow may now add "drakeslayer" to the end of their names when introductions are made in Malring. This will be used to their benefit when interacting with locals. At the feast some of the party see that not everyone can be a "malringer." This opportunity may not come again. So, Shade says "nope," Crow already is, Brotgher Lucius says no, Ashlyn says no, and Vargas says no. "We are friends of Malring as Malring is to us."Snogmaul (Peter D.) Illyana does let Ashlyn know that the working enchanters are employed by the duke in the production of warforged. The deliveries come and go Blackvault for the enchanted. FYI: There is a river from Vertenhold (sp) almost all the way to Undertower. There is a stone giant that seems to be working for Malring at one of the guard towers. He has a pile of throwing rocks beside him. Some of the group remembers that stone giants did not buy in to the whole pax titanicus. Stone giants may choose individually to follow or not the guidelines of the pax.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The group that went to Malring; this group has a small nature incident (encounter with wolves)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) The trip back to Undertower: Snogmaul and company - - - Snogmaul guides the caravan back to Undertower. Snogmaul gets advantage on future rolls when traveling between Undertower to the Duchy of Malring. In addition to that Snogmaul has maps of the route plus notes about dangers and beneficial points of interest. (that would be perception, stealth, and nature checks)</b>Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul looks for a courier to deliver a packet of maps and notes to the Svirfneblin in the Copper Hills in the northwest, they are the foothills of Parapets. There is no copper there, just the color of the grass there. He withdraws to a private room/building and changes his appearance to that of a hill dwarf (known as Spruce). The notice says the travel time by horse about 3 days ride to the Copper Hills; pay 600 GP. No hire of couriers that showed up. Snogmaul then turns over the scales etc to Erika Stonehammer for the bounty. (4525 GP per person for the scales.) There is a bearer bond for enchanted item (+3 hammer) and cash. The bond was written by Clan Lord of the Thorsen Clan. The Malringers return home.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul hangs out at the Guild House to find out rumors and info. There may be some investment being made from the Burning City. There have been purchasing agents in town. They are frequenting the shops. The main market for items brought up from Undertower seems to be from the outside the Undertower area. The Guild Master thinks that Crass Adament may be making a power play for city control. Snogmaul pays his dues, 500 GP.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade checks in with the Guild Master to find out if there has been any changes with regards to giants. He is happy with Shade and Snogmaul and the money they have been bringing turning over.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn shows the bearer bond to Erika Stonehammer. Ashlyn keeps the bond and Erika tells Ashlyn that she will inform any Thorsen clan member that Ashlyn has the bond.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn is looking a courier to take a note to the Thorsen Clan; 100 GP for delivery is offered. Money paid upon return of Thorsen clan member with the courier. Someone shows up, a female, and claimed she rides with a bodyguard; usually goes to the Burning City. Ashlyn says that she hires four couriers and the first back gets paid. The rest are out of luck. Brother Lucius spots somebody out of the ordinary, possibly a thieve's guild member. Ashlyn hires just the female and backs out on the four courier plan.Snogmaul (Peter D.) While we are waiting for armor to be made for our party members we hear that a formal town should be built. Crass comes to Brother Lucius and asks for his approval for reconstructing Three Pace Pavilion and All Faiths in stone. Now at the perimeter of the town guard houses are also built. The town guard is being hired from the Blood Gold district, ie they are mercenaries. An election for mayor will be held on the summer solstice, about two months away. The guild master is approving of the plan to build up the town. The name of the Tarrytown.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul makes the trek to deliver the letter/notes/map package to the Svirfneblin Copper Hills. He is attacked on the way there by four abberations.Legend's Dad (John S.) whoaLegend's Dad (John S.) snogmaul vs. 4 abbies?Legend's Dad (John S.) must be dinner timeOrestes (Robt. G.) Abby normal.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Speed combat; Snogmaul took four hits, survived and combat ended.Snogmaul (Peter D.) The party stays in Tarrytown for about 50 days. The election is coming up and we are not willing to hang around town any longer. We have committed to adventuring but cannot decide what to do. We are in discussion.Legend's Dad (John S.) Jim hasn't thrown a spear at the mayor yet?Legend's Dad (John S.) Jim must be getting patience in his old ageSnogmaul (Peter D.) Kyle, reminds the players that there are hobgoblins and high level pets working for them on level 10 tier. House Marvad gets a cut of half the magic we recover and we get half the magic and all of the cash. House Marvad wants this job done to gain favor with _________ .GM (Kyle B.) Correction: party keeps all cashSnogmaul (Peter D.) Crow goes to see Crass and asks if there have been any problems. Crass responds that there have not been any problems lately. There are some exploratory teams going to tiers 9, 10, and 11.Orestes (Robt. G.) Moar updates. MOAR! :yum:Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul does research, reading, and map making while the rest of the character gain renown in various groups. The party comes to find Snogmaul and we are all going to do some recon on tiers 9, 10 and 11. We take the shaft down from the Barrigan Estate down to tier 9. We come out near rib 3 between spokes 2 and 3. Go over to 3 and then head out spoke 3 and take a look down the ribs either direction. In particular we are looking for passages for the miners to take. It does not look like anybody has been here. It is dusty, Snogmaul sees some interesting patterns in the dust. There is a curvy path in the dust. A giant snake??? Brother recalls that things came through after the terrasque. Some records in the Estate describe that snakelike with tennacles, "the stone came alive, pulled people back into the wall." Something this big is going to be hungry. It may also be other-worldly.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul pulls a boar out of the the Bag of Tricks. The boar is about 15 feet ahead of the party. As we approach spoke 3 we are seeing the "tracks." At the junction of spoke 3 and rib 3. A giant creature from the ceiling with 4 tentacles and a beak attacks the boar; then a similar creature bursts forth from the floor. The boar is dead! Ahhhh. Roll initiative.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Brother 13Snogmaul (Peter D.) Crow 15Snogmaul (Peter D.) Shade 14Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul 20Snogmaul (Peter D.) Ashlyn 4Snogmaul (Peter D.) Vargas 19Snogmaul (Peter D.) Snogmaul fires two bolts doing 12 and 11 points dmg to the top creature. Vargas casts fireball puts the closest edge just in front of the party and flowing to the back wall of the intersection. The fireball does 27 pts dmg and the top creature drops to the ground. The bottom creature tosses aside the boar piece it had. Creatures to either side. Another creature against the back wall also falls dead. And then... the corridor is actually larger than we thought because a giant creature is filling the space. It reaches forward with four tentacle (20 pts dmg) and then it stabs (12 pts dmg) with a tail and a beak attack fails against Shade. Crow attacks using action surge and successfully attacks twice 15 and 16 pts dmg to the creature that has Shade in its grip. Shade "dodges."Snogmaul (Peter D.) More creatures come forth... five smaller ones come forward to attack Brother x2, Shade, and Crow x2. All the "little ones" miss. Brother Lucius casts fireball hoping to catch any creature that has yet to move forward and the big one and the small one on Shade is now crispy. The creatures take 27 pts dmg from fire. We hear no additional responses to the fireball. Ashlyn shadow steps to the large one, attacks and then moves away. She hits twice for 19 pts dmg total, bludgeoning damage and it seems resistant. Snogmaul gets a sneak attack on one of the small ones on Brother Lucius and does 25 pts dmg with his crossbow. It is dead. Next Vargas whips out his magic rod and says, "Obey me!" Vargas tries to charm four creatures... "Look at me," says Vargas. He then says, "Attack the creature on Crow!"Snogmaul (Peter D.) The creatures attack and the one on Crow is dead; killed by the large creature after it let go of Shade. Crow attacks twice with his sword for 11 and 15 pts of dmg. Shade (nothing currently eating him) attacks the small one on Crow and misses. The small creature misses Crow. Likewise the one on Brother misses. Brother Lucius casts sacred flame and the creature saves taking no damage. Ashlyn shadow steps to the small one on Crow and hits twice does 19 pts and down it goes. Ashlyn returns to the place she started. Snogmaul fires a crowbow bolt on the small creature and kills it with 27 pts of dmg. The giant creature returns to "stone." They were gricks. They are abberations with ties to other realms.Snogmaul (Peter D.) Experience: 5 for Malring story and role play, 10 for Tarrytown story and role play, 10 for the above fight for .25 total; our new level 7.7
Session 17--2017.7.22
Snogmaul Peter D. correction: all party members are renown 2 with Adamant Mining Co.Snogmaul Peter D. We are resuming on spoke 3, rib 3, on tier 9. Snogmaul will scout ahead 90 feet ahead of the party and 30 feet ahead of Ashlyn. We are heading down spoke 3 toward rib 2. Proceeding in the dark, using darkvision and sneaking. Snogmaul gets to rib 2 intersection and notices that it looks less savaged. There are some signs of a fight, more this area was evacuated prior to large scale fighting as happened on other tiers and spokes. The rooms and containers are empty but not smashed open. There are frequently stairs that connect one tier to another; what is unusual is to find a route that connects multiple tiers like the central shaft or the shaft in "the manor." More wealthy "homes" would be more likely to have access to multiple tiers. There seem to be structures that would likely have access points to tiers. We decide to explore a house. The furniture is gone as well as most other items. There is a "grand" staircase that goes to tier 8. A typical dwelling would need to 4 floors to roughly equal one tier increase. Little sign out front says "Iron Manse" and there is a working smithy, a small home version. There is a small anvil.Snogmaul Peter D. We find some artwork that was not taken, statues. Ebonsmith is etched in the base. We go up. This upper floor appears to be a much more small and unassuming home. At this point we head back down to the ground floor and then head in the direction of the main shaft.Snogmaul Peter D. We again notice that more prestigious homes or shops are closer to the central shaft. There is also is or was a central lift. As we approach rib one we notice some light coming from the central shaft. Ashlyn catches a quick glimpse of "snaky" things; Snogmaul saw nothing. Ashlyn moves up to Snogmaul to warn him. Then Snogmaul "messages" Drombar to hold position. Rib one wall or buildings on the shaft side are collapsed while the outer wall side homes or shops are mostly intact. The spoke is about 50 feet wide and the ribs are about 40 feet wide. (perception checks) an enormous reptilian head pokes into the tier. and something behind us as well is spotted by those that got 20+Snogmaul Peter D. Initiative: Crow 19, Drombar 14, Orestes 23, Shade 11, Vargas 22, Snogmaul 16, Ashlyn 7, Lucius 8Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes moves up and casts "force of wind" causing 17 pts of bludgeoning damage to the creature in the shaft that poked its head and it is knocked into the central shaft and it fell down the shaft. Vargas casts something that causes six little spinning orbs start circling Vargas critting and two fly off doing 6 pts dmg. to the second one in the shaft. Coming out of the wall from behind us bursts a hydra. The hydra in the shaft; three heads are going after Orestes and two attack Snogmaul with one hits for 9 pts dmg. Snogmaul is attacked for 13 pts of dmg. Another head hits Orestes for another 10 pts dmg.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul makes an arcana check and finds out that fire damage prevents regrowth of heads; so fire dmg at least once a turn. Snogmaul fires a bolt and does 24 pts of dmg. Snogmaul immediately fires a second bolt and does another 12 pts dmg. Drombar uses "protection" to help Orestes making all attacks on Orestes at a disadvantage. Drombar then attacks for 10 pts dmg. Shade casts True Strike. Brother Lucius casts magic missile with a wand doing 9 pts dmg. Ashlyn shadow steps to behind the hydra and does 9 pts dmg and then uses one chi point to stunning strike; the hydra has advantage against being stunned (any mind affecting spell). Then Ashlyn moves to the edge of the shaft.Snogmaul Peter D. Hydra number two (behind us)! This one is a little different, crawling close to the ground with 5 heads! Two hits... 6 and 12 pts dmg from biting. Crow takes the dmg and then has to make a con save and misses (even after using "lucky". An additional 6 pts of dmg from poison. Orestes hits with a staff and does 6 pts dmg. He follows up with two strikes of his hands for a total of 14 pts dmg. Vargas casts Agnazar's Scorcher 14 then saved for half, so 7 pts dmg. Another head fall... 3 heads left on the hydra near the shaft. Now it is time for the hydra! Two heads on Orestes and one on Shade. Orestes takes 6 pts dmg and Shade 15 pts dmg from a bite. Crow uses his ring to due 30 pts lightning dmg and then does an action surge (two attacks) for 15 pts and using lucky does another 14 pts dmg with his sword. Snogmaul fires a bolt and misses. Drombar moves "protection" from Orestes to Crow as he moves to the rear hydra. Drombar takes three attacks with only one hitting for 13 pts dmg. He then does 7 pts dmg with a blow from his axe and then a second hit for 9 pts dmg.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade casts wall of ice and attempts to push the hydra to the side wall next to Ashlyn and the creature takes 33 pts cold dmg. Brother Lucius uses burning hands it takes 6 pts dmg, so fire dmg prevents the rear hydra regrowing heads. Ashlyn does 8 pts dmg after shadow stepping. Her second attack misses. She then disengages. The hydra at the back attacks doing 8 pts to Crow and Crow "lucky" successfully saves against the poison. Brother takes 25 pts dmg and then misses both con saves against poison 18 dmg. Crow to Brother, "Heal us before you die!" Orestes then attacks for 6 pts dmg. Vargas fires off twin chromatic orbs for 12 and 12 pts dmg. And then 5 pts meteor dmg. (all to the poison hydra). Vargas attacks with another meteor 7 pts to the front hydra. So both hydras have now taken fire dmg. Two attacks miss Shade and he repoistes doing 11 pts dmg. The attack on Snogmaul only does half dmg after he uses uncanny dodge for 4 pts. Crow misses twice. Snogmaul uses sneak attack to do 22 pts dmg and then 8 pts dmg. The front hydra goes down!!!Snogmaul Peter D. Drombar does 18 pts dmg to the rear hydra with a cleaving blow from his axe. Shade misses his one attack. Brother casts beacon of hope, on everybody except Ashlyn (again). Mass Healing Word and those that have been damaged get back 13 pts. Ashlyn moves 30 feet toward the rear hydra, strikes twice and then continues down the hall. 7 pts and 7 more pts dmg. All three heads attack Shade (with a 22 AC) and one hits. But before that he repoistes and misses. 8 biting dmg and a misses save for 10 pts poison dmg. Fist of Unbroken Air by Orestes and the creature takes 20 pts dmg, falling dead and pushed toward Ashlyn stopping just short of hitting her. Yeah!!Snogmaul Peter D. The heads will not regrow once the creatures die.Snogmaul Peter D. Brother casts Prayer of Healing and everybody gets 16 pts back, this takes about 10 minutes.Snogmaul Peter D. The party takes a short rest; one hour. Ashlyn is not touching the waste pile of the hydra waste, finds a scroll with Guidance. Brother and Vargas and Snogmaul each find a 100 gp trade gem. Orestes and Drombar find 5000 sp, 2600 gp and 140 pp. While Shade found 300 cp.Snogmaul Peter D. Now the "all in" people are stinky.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas is using cantrips to clean the clothes of the "all in" people.Snogmaul Peter D. Crow looks into the central shaft. 450 feet up, more than hundreds of feet across, there is a heavy reinforcement at about level 20. There are claw marks where the Tarrasque climbed out, major damage at each foot hold the creature made. Likely the "big lift" stopped at the reinforcement rings every 10 tiers. These are also where fortification happened against potential invasion. There may some repair work that took place on tier 10. Crow also hears just above him the flap of a wing. An enormous creature tries to grab him and misses. The creature flies off into the darkness. Crow quickly retreats back into the hall. It was some aberration, the gnome knows it is a Cloaker. It is very good at hunting and reproducing. It can blend into the stone. It will wrap up its victim. The victim can be damaged; half of the damage goes to the victim. Usually Cloakers are solitary. Crow suggests moving away from the shaft. Go back up the spoke says Crow. Drombar's axe is glowing, hobgoblins are nearby.Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes using his elemental ring casts wall of stone to seal off the main shaft from the spoke entrance. We head down rib one toward spoke four. We find, after a little while, a way down. It is in a shop, trap door hidden behind some junk. This may have been a garbage chute. The room or area has small creatures that we easily clear out at our current skill level. We take a long rest once the room is secured. Shade hoses down the stinky party members with his water ring. Brother Lucius will have dark vision again after the long rest.Snogmaul Peter D. We go down the chute and start following the tunnel. The tunnel meanders as it follows ore veins. We seems to be heading in the right direction, toward the hobgoblins. There are some dead ends and side tracks, again due to where the ore was and was not. We come to what might be a storage area. We may be below tier 10 now. This basement was not cleared out. There may have been many barrels of ale at one time. A couple might still have mead in them. We find a trap in the ceiling and there are molds etc that were growing in here. We try and lift the trap door. There may be something blocking the door on the other side. It could be barred or there may be something sitting on top. At tier 9 there was some wood. At tier 10 everything is metal and stone, except the barrels. Orestes walks through the stone trap door. There is an iron bar blocking the door. The bar is rusted and fused to the brackets. The room is dark and it is all stone. There are metal fixtures for lanterns or torches. There is a stone door out of the room. Orestes tries to quietly move in the room. He hears some distant voices. There are many voices. At one point it might have been a store room but now it is not in use. Snogmaul provides a vial of acid to Orestes to dissolve away the brackets holding the bar in place. He tries to lift the bar and move it clear. He fails to move it. Ashlyn casts silence and then Orestes is able to drag the bar out of the way. Party members below push the door open while Orestes pulls. We are all in the upper room now.Snogmaul Peter D. This room my be a storage room for a tavern; dry goods in the upper room we are now in and ale in the lower room we came from. Crow moves to the door and then Orestes passes through the wall next to the door. He is in a kitchen. There are a couple of hobgoblins. They are chopping meat (some of which has fingers). One of the hobgoblins looks up and seems to spot Orestes. Orestes "I accidentally went in the wrong room." The hobgoblins see Orestes exit and follow him via the door.Snogmaul Peter D. Initiative: Snogmaul 21, Ashlyn 22, Orestes 15, Crow 18, Brother Lucius 13, Shade 16, Drombar 3, Vargas 9Snogmaul Peter D. There are more than a half dozen that have entered the room we are in. Ashlyn shadow steps, strikes twice and does 6 and 5 pts of dmg. Then she will retreat to the back of our room. The two at the front look to be bigger and not as wild, professional in manner, possibly ranked officers. The ones in the back seem more like infantry. As she leaves the fight, she is attacked. They are attacking with a great sword or boar spear. It does 20 pts of dmg. Snogmaul casts Blur on himself and then fires a crossbow bolt and totally misses. Crow steps up and hits one of the front guys and hits with a 17 (using luck) for 15 pts of dmg. Crow's second attack misses. Using action surge he misses once and hits once for 14 pts of dmg. Down he goes! Commands are being shouted in the room and we hear a growling response. Two hell hounds come charging into the room as the remaining leader steps aside. The hell hounds breathe fire. Damage is 22 pts dmg. Brother takes no damage as does Snogmaul. Some take half damage. The leader shouts "Javelins!" and he ducks as they fly through the door. The leader hobgoblin attacks Crow with his massive sword and misses both times.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade fires an ice storm into the room with the hobgoblins with the javelins. The hobgoblins take 23 pts or half, 11 pts, if they save. Many hobgoblins go down. And some hell hounds also took some damage. The floor is difficult terrain. There were more than 20+ hobgoblins. It started at more than 30.Snogmaul Peter D. Wow! Shade!!! Nicely done. Orestes casts fist of unbroken air on the hell hound right in front of him. The creature has to make a strength saving throw and it misses. The hell hound is pushed into the other hell hound and it takes 13 pts of dmg and is prone. Lucius steps back to Ashlyn and heals her for 13 pts. Vargas casts chromatic orbs and hits twice for 13 and 21 for electric damage. The hobgoblins move into position and hurl javelins into the room at us. (This is the Fist of Maglubiyet.) Crow is hit for 7 pts of dmg. And 9 pts of dmg to Shade. Drombar misses twice and then action surges and misses once and critical hits for a total 16 pts of dmg to the leader. (end of round)Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn shadow steps and then strikes with her staff and hits twice for 15 pts of dmg. She then goes to the back corner of the room. Snogmaul fires a crossbow bolt and does 20 pts dmg. The leader dies. Crow attacks the hell hound in the room with us and hits twice for 15 and 14 pts of dmg. The hell hounds all attack. Three hell hounds enter the room. Fire damage is 19 and 20 for two of the hounds. Shade goes down. Snogmaul evades all of it. Orestes saved once and missed taking 10 pts dmg. Brother took no fire damage. Drombar took 20 pts of dmg in total. Vargas took a total of 10 pts of dmg from the fire. Crow also took 20 pts of dmg after saving. Ashlyn and she took 10 pts of dmg. There are four more heavies on there way. There is one more hell hound in the outer room.Snogmaul Peter D. The front heavies throw javelins at Crow with great expertise and is critically hit for 13 pts of dmg. The four heavies are working together. Shade makes a death save. Orestes casts Shatter, DC 13 con save for the baddies. They take 12 pts dmg each or save to half. Then using his fist he hits twice for 18 pts of dmg against one of the hell hounds. Brother Lucius casts beacon of hope and mass healing word, 13 pts cured. Shade pops back up and now has 13 HP.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas whips out his Rod of Obedience. All of the baddies, hell hounds and hobgoblins, are now on Vargas' side. Vargas walks forward to see what is in the next room. 4 leaders, 3 regulars and 4 hell hounds. The hobgoblins set up a defensive position at the door and windows.Funny To John (lol I keep trying to whip out my rod of obedience, but they keep calling the cops)Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas finds out that there is a battalion of hobgoblins (possibly 500 in number), hell hounds, gorgons, war trolls and magic using leaders. They are organizing for an attack on the city. Vargas is getting us to move out the way we came. Orestes creates a wall across the room to block or slow pursuit.Snogmaul Peter D. We exit via the way we came. Orestes covers over the wooden trap door with a stone shape. We continue on using pass without a trace and do not go through the Barrigan Estate. We go back to Tarrytown. We go through the mining town. We stop to see Crass Adamant and is working and has an apron on. Crow explains to Crass that we were on tier 10. Part of what Crow says is that we killed two hydras. Also that we encountered a platoon of hobgoblins. And after interrogation we found out there is a battalion. Their helmets had a cock-eyed crescent. It is unusual. The crescent is some unit in the Dawn Realm that is trying to take over the Imperium. Crass says "Those are Dawn Realmers. That cannot be good." Brother says that as a leader of the town, Crass should do something. Crass says that we can reach out to Dark Ember\Burning City or Titanicus. Crass says that tier ten is totally reinforced. We agree to meet Crass the next morning.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade and Snogmaul then heads to the Guild. The guild master is not the one from before. It is now a woman that used to be in collections. Shade says that we found hobgoblins coming to take the city. The guild master asks Shade to make to set up a meeting with the leader of the hobgoblins.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn's contact is not here anymore. She gets the former contact's room at the Gilded Garden. Ashlyn does an investigation. In the ashes of the fireplace there is a Gilded stamp in the shape of a crescent.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul finds out that the Guild Master "left" sometime around 3 weeks ago. No one is sure since the Guild Master was not frequently seen by the rank and file. Ashlyn's contact left sometime in the last few days.Snogmaul Peter D. The past and current Emperor was and is from House Marvad. House Marvad exists in Dark Ember. Ashlyn has look somebody in the Woodvale. After doing some research, she goes Brother Lucius to let him know that she will be gone and return as soon as possible.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn is going to Roma because she cannot trust a messenger. She is not worried about what we do. She will leave after we meet with Crass in the morning. Drombar suggests that we find out if the elementals in the BarriganEstate will help us against the hobgoblin army. The elementals are likely not interested in a direct fight. Drombar is interested in getting protection from gorgons from an alchemist. Asked and answered; the alchemist cannot help.Snogmaul Peter D. Experience: 10% medium fight, fight 20% hard fight, 5% role play and follow up in town = 35% increase in levels. We are now level 8.05Br. Lucius Jim Y. Brother Lucius speaks to Ashlyn to learn more about her intentions for her trip & after hearing her plans, decides to write her a letter of introduction to the high priestess of the temple at Darkember. In the letter he introduces her as Lady Ashlyn Winterbloom, of the Court of Shadows of Undertower, member of House Marvad and that she is on a mission to alert House Marvad in Roma of a potential incursion of the Dawn Realm into the Harrowlands through the remains of Undertower. While he defers to the High Priestess's greater experience in the realms of politics, he humbly suggests that it may be to the Church's benefit to aid Lady Ashlynn in her mission. Meanwhile, I (Lucius) & my compatriots will attempt to turn back this Dawn Realm incursion. Details about the size & composition of the forces he believes we are facing are included in the letter. He explains that he thought the High Priestess should know about the potential Dawn Realm toe-hold in case he & his compatriots should fail to stop the Dawn Realm incursion despite his faith in Hestia's blessings. His concern is that should he fail, the Dawn Realmers may set their sites on the wealth of Darkember after getting the toe-hold. He does not expect the campaign against the Dawn Realmers to take more than a month, so if he does not send word of success by that time, she should assume the worst & take what preparations she deems prudent. Any help she deems to send to help protect Tarryton while he campaigns against the Dawn Realm Hobgoblins would be appreciated.Ashlyn Matt M. Marching Order `Ashlyn (120 feet ahead)``Snogmaul (60 feet ahead)``Shade or Drombar``Brother Lucius or Vargas``Crow or Orestes`Br. Lucius Jim Y. I thought we had Crow & Orestes protecting the party's backside. That'd protect Vargas & better place Lucius to aid more folks.Ashlyn Matt M. I was just repinning the Marching Order we agreed on back in 2016 that had fallen off of Slack.Br. Lucius Jim Y. OK. I'm still going to stick with the suggestion though. Up to y'all if you want to hear complaints about the mage being stuck in the back!Orestes Robt. G. I'm OK with flip-flopping the last two lines.Ashlyn Matt M. doneAshlyn Matt M.Session 19--2017.9.16
Snogmaul Peter D. the party meets overnight to discuss the options; Malring, giants, mercenaries, The Guild, et al
Snogmaul Peter D. we move forward later that same night and send Vargas to present our idea to Crass, Brother Lucius and Crow also go to talk with him; Crass is really leaning toward outsiders, Brother Lucius suggests that we can stem the tide long enough that reinforcements will arrive in time; Crass is holding Lucius to his word that what he says we can do we can do; Brother also suggests that we may need something from Crass to help in our endeavors; we must get back to Crass by morning with a concrete plan that he believes will workSnogmaul Peter D. Brother and the three other elemental ring holders go to the elemental hall in the BarriganEstate to negotiate assistance from them. He begins with the fire elemental (Cinda), as this is Lucius' ring. The fire elemental desires "interesting" things to burn in return for help. Crow speaks with Keen Howl the air elemental leader. Crow asks for intelligence work. In return the air elemental wants to go out of the dungeon to move and blow things down. Watch and tell for a day and in return for each day go outside play time. This may take a few days of recon. Shade is going to talk with the water elemental, Evertide. The elemental wants to see a river that is nearby on the surface; down the river to the sea. Shade thinks this may be a very long time away for the water. He says they can go one at a time. Shade says they can drown any creature with the crescent helmet. Orestes speaks with the earth elemental Georg. Orestes asks if they would like to crush some stuff. The elementals would like to travel to tasty things upstairs or be able to roam downstairs. Georg asks if it will be dangerous. "What do you need done?" Collapsing a tunnel on some guys. Or maybe walling off an area so the hobgoblins can not advance. Mostly what we are interested in having the elementals doing is delaying the hobgoblins.Snogmaul Peter D. The ring holders return to the surface to meet with Crass. It is a few hours before dawn. Brother says that we have spoken to "our people." We will need some things in return like adamantine raw ore and some combustible materials. Crass would be interested in working a deal to have fire elementals come help his business in a future deal. Crass agrees to giving us a letter of trade to be used when we deal with alchemists and scroll makers or creators. Orestes asks for a couple of carts of raw ore, 1000 lbs of ore per cart, which equals 5 or 6 ounces. So 2000 gp value per cart. Orestes asks for other ore. Traces of mithril and iron and a bit of copper and silver. Then Crass goes off for an hour about volcanic geology. Basically Crass wants to keep his mining operation going.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas finds Crass to be agreeable to the plan... but Crass is also very hesitant. He will sit on the letters to Dark Ember and to Titanicus. Crass figures it will take two days to get the letter to Malring. The answer time is unknown.Snogmaul Peter D. Morning comes: Ashlyn heads to Dark Ember via ??? Ashlyn is looking for a flying broom. There is one just outside of town and is directed to see a witch. Ashlyn finds the witch and she directs her to a grave. The grave is that of the witch's grandma. Ashlyn heads to the grave site. She looks for the sideways pentagram and finds it. She says, "I want your broom." A voice responds "Do you love anyone here?" Ashlyn places the +1 dagger on the grave. The voice asks, "Are you sure?" The broom rises out of the grave. Ashlyn returns to town with the broom. The young witch says that there is a curse on the old witch. The old witch, grandma, can get her revenge on someone if she has the means.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn flys off after telling the rest of the party "bye."Funny To John That was the weirdest side story everFunny To John And yes, I've seen Kiki's Messenger ServiceSnogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul travels around town to see if there is anything going on. Has anyone heard about hobgoblins. There are rumors circulating about new construction in the mines. There seems like some increase security in the mines and less mining.Funny To John Snogmaul should disguise himself as a hobgoblin and see if anyone *doesn't* react.Snogmaul Peter D. Brother is going shopping in the Bazaar of Wonders. He is looking for something to protect against petrification. Darien at the Red Flask is Brother's first stop. He presents the letter from Crass. Darien asks what we are looking for exactly. Brother asks for something to protect against a gorgon. Snogmaul buys four potions of healing at 50 gp each.Snogmaul Peter D. Kraken's Ink makes scrolls on demand. Next stop, All Faiths. Brother goes asks about a scroll of at least 4th level spell of Enhanced Ability Bear's Endurance. There are four such scrolls. The keeper mentions that these were prepared some time back when there was disease going through town. For those caring for the sick. The need for the caregivers no longer exists. These are all at 3rd level spell casting. The Keeper says that they can be borrowed and returned if unused. If used, Brother can pay in service or cash.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade also is going to buy healing potions while we are in town.Loyal Opposition Celeste Y. I admit I thought the same thing :facepalm:Snogmaul Peter D. The party, minus Ashlyn, goes back down to the Hall of the Elements. The air elemental reports that not much is going on. "They" are looking out at the air. They are climbing up with rope. They have climbed 100 ft up (one tier). The air elemental suspects the group will reach the surface in a few days. The air elemental thinks there might be an air creature that is not aligned with us. There are some reports they are moving through the tunnels. Earth elementals have collapsed some tunnels which are then being dug through. There was a lift shaft that the earth elemental was sealed up and then the water elementals filled it killing some hobgoblins. There have been lead hobgoblins setting up a climbing route via ropes and hand holds up the main shaft. The harassing has delayed at least 5 days so far.Snogmaul Peter D. The air elementals have not reported any of the large-size creatures that are part of the attacking force. We have had no reports of war trolls or gorgons. They are likely using major tunnels, spokes and tier passageways. The air elementals are instructed to look for the larger creatures or passageways that are big enough. Start with tier 8 and then move down if nothing is found. The air elementals report at the end of day two. The air elementals report many digging teams. The earth elementals keep collapsing more and more stuff so that the digging teams have more to clear.Snogmaul Peter D. Day 3; the air elementals have continued to harass the hobgoblin lead teams. The elementals have been attacked by some flying creature. One of the small air elementals and it sneaked into tier 10. It amused itself blowing out candles and lanterns. It also reports that none of the big things are at tier 10. There are not as many hobgoblins as we thought there would be.Snogmaul Peter D. We travel upwards and meet with Crass. We let him know that we have slowed the main force. He says that he has not been attacked. He knows that nothing has gone through the first three levels. Vargas goes to the surface and changes into an eagle. He is looking for signs or creatures that could be part of the invading army from below. Vargas circles the town. He notices after an hour there is no reaction by the townsfolk. There are some buildings or pavilions that could house a large creature. A second hour of flying outside the town "proper." There is rolling grass and plains. It would be possible to hide a tunnel entrance among the natural terrain. There are no access points that could be for the large creatures we are looking for. He does find some a guy with a crossbow at a small hidey-hole. Vargas notes the location of the guy and his earthen dwelling. There is a small dwelling with stairs down into the earth. Vargas reports the above.Snogmaul Peter D. Climbing teams at spoke 4; we are on spoke 3 on tier 7; we encounter a couple detours due to collapsed areas and have to work around; Orestes asks an earth elemental to clear the area for us to make our way through; the opening is left open in case we need to come back this way; Snogmaul believes there no indication there has been something going on here for awhile; Snogmaul can see dim light coming from the central shaft; Snogmaul sees four teams hammering metal rungs into the central shaft wall; there are four hobgoblins at the entrance, armed with crossbows; by the way it is Day 4; we attackSnogmaul Peter D. Crow tells the air elementals to do a whirlwind; hopefully some will get tossed down the shaft; all four hobgoblins fail to make their saves; all of them going flying out the opening!!! The plan worked!Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas moves forward 40 feet, then readies witch bolt; Lucius moves up 20 feet; Crow moves ahead 30 feet and readies to shoot with a normal arrow; Shade moves 60 feet forward with a clankety clank; Snogmaul moves up 25 feet sneakily; Orestes moves up 60 feet and prepares for the "unexpected"; out in the shaft we hear shouting by some hobgoblins; Vargas moves forward 80 feet now 10 feet behind barrier; Lucius moves 40 feet; Crow dashes toward the barrier 60 feet; Shade moves 60 feet; Snogmaul dashes ahead 50 feet; Orestes charges ahead 30 feet next to a rubble filled passageway entrance; it is noisier then it is quieter in the main shaft; Vargas 30 feet to the edge and looks up and sees some rungs going up and there are hobgoblins fire crossbow bolts are fired for 17 pts dmg critical hit dmg; then two other crossbows bolts go flying by from below; Vargas casts shield which saves him from additional damage; Vargas casts a spell exploding a 20 foot cube of earth (erupting earth) causing it to be difficult terrain in the area of the two hobgoblins in the tier 6 opening; both hobgoblin take dmg 31 pts each; Lucius moves up another 40 feet; Crow holds position and says "fall back"; Shade moves to the barrier and if he sees a hobgoblin he will blast it with eldritch blast; Snogmaul moves to the barrier while still invisible; Orestes goes back 60 feet and tries to align himself with a nearby collapsed passagewaySnogmaul Peter D. We hear more shouting and a few chunks of rubble fall past our opening to the shaft; Vargas falls back 80 feet back; Lucius stays where he is and prepares to heal Vargas as he goes by; Crow holds position; Snogmaul fires a crossbow poisoned crossbow bolt and the hobgoblin but it saves against the poison for 11 pts dmg; 8 hobgoblins fire bolts and one hits for 13 pts dmg and Snogmaul uses uncanny dodge so he only takes 6 hp dmg; Crow and Vargas continue to move away from the central shaft; Brother Lucius now heals Vargas for 9 HP; we regroup and fall back past the collapsed areas and are recollapsedSnogmaul Peter D. Meanwhile; Ashlyn does get to the Burning City (we will find out more next session)Snogmaul Peter D. Experience: strategy 5%, role play for talking to Crass 5% and 10% for a small fight; we are now level 8.25Session 20--2017.11.11
Snogmaul Peter D. On the road to Dark Ember, Ashlyn rapid transit (horse) from Tarry Town. House Telx has horses that "veil" the horse and rider. Cost: 200 gp one way. Or armored secured caravan 500 gp. She gets to Dark Ember, the Burning City. The walled city can be smelled due to the production that is going on. It is said that one third of the city is underground. There is the Council of 30 that controls the city. There is a chairperson of the council. The "Iron Hand" has been the chairperson for the last couple decades. Ashlyn goes to the front gate and says that she is staying a day or so. The gatekeepers do not ask a whole lot of questions and seem uninterested in her responses. Ashlyn goes to the House Telx stables and then to the Olympian Temple. Major figures in town subscribe to the Olympian pantheon. The city is built in defensive rings. Each ring has people checking as she passes through. Ashlyn is not able to figure out the specific purpose of the questions. The farther in she goes the wealthier the area seems to be. The outer rings seem to have plenty of city guards while the inner circles have private guards.Snogmaul Peter D. Alena is the high priestess at the Olympian Cathedral; there are shrines to each of the gods. acolytes are working in the various parts. Ashlyn asks to see Alynna and is directed to make herself comfortable. Around sunset nine or ten people come in surrounding Alena, of Hera. Ashlyn passes along the letter of Brother Lucius. Alena inquires as to how things are with Brother, Tarrytown and Undertower. Alena after reading the letter says that "this accelerates his mission." Alena says that some of the old remnants of the old order are still of use. Among these are the teleporting circles. Brother Lucius was sent to revive the teleporting area in Undertower. The reinforcements could go directly from Roma to Undertower. The needed circle could be on tier 20. There are working circles in Dark Ember and Roma.Snogmaul Peter D. The Dawn Realm is now has been subverted. Ashlyn should probably speak to someone in the Court of Shadows in Roma. Ashlyn says that she has no other business in the Burning City. Alena wants a favor from Tyvalt, but might ask Ashlyn if Tyvalt refuses. Alena says that Ashlyn should be very careful about dealing with House Telx due to the level of danger in associating with them. "They are not what they seem. There are leaders of that family that are rakshasa." Alena is a deva and is at war with the rakshasa. She goes on to say that Brother Lucius has proven himself a hero. Alena says, "That if you have or in the future get the ability to see through illusion when walking around Dark Ember it would be advisable." Alena will arrange transport in a day or so. Ashlyn asks if there is a way to get a message to Undertower. Alena knows of a person that can get the message through. Ashlyn passes on sending a message now.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn notices the people coming and going. People make some pretty substantial, handfulls of gem stones. Does this = strong faith? The acolytes are carrying weapons and armored at night. An individual comes in cloaked and hooded and sits down by Hades shrine. After 30-60 minutes a pouch is placed in the offering bowl and then the figure waves a hand over it and the pouch disappears. After about another hour an accolyte speaks to the hooded figure. Then Alena comes over and speaks to the hooded figure. Bael Dustfall is the hooded figure. He provides transportation. Bael asks who will be paying for the trip. Bael says that he will take Ashlyn to Tyvalt. He starts walking toward the door and Ashlyn follows. Alena hands Ashlyn a letter.Snogmaul Peter D. Tyvalt is heading the Court of Shadows in Roma. Bael and Ashlyn enter the priests' meeting room. Bael does some magical casting and they head to Roma. They transport into a room with a large circle which is surrounded by 40-50 guys with readied crossbows and magic. A warforged examines the "credentials" of Bael. A messenger is sent to Tyvalt and shortly thereafter two nameless agents show up. Empress Euronya Celeano Kaerak Marvad is the current leader. Ashlyn presents her credentials to the agents. They escort her to Tyvalt. The circle might be within an arcane training and practice center, a college of magic as it were. There is a whole campus of arcane activity. aka the Colegea Arcana.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn comes to a walled estate with enormous griffons. One talks and the gates open. Ashlyn goes through to the manor house. The guards enter a large sitting room. This is clearly a House Marvad estate. Ashlyn finds a glass and wine and has a drink. After an hour or so an older guy, with possible Norse blood. He likely was powerful fighter at one point. "Alright talk." Ashlyn respectfully bows and explains that she was to be on the lookout for the Dawnrealm. She has learned that the Dawnrealm has plans to attack Tarrytown and the Undertower. She also conveys the army (hobgoblin) is what we observed. Tyvalt says that an extra-planar leader has taken control of the Dawnrealm.Snogmaul Peter D. Tyval warns of the creatures we already know of but also yuan-ti that came up from the south lands. An oni may have been impersonating the House Marvad contact that Ashlyn had. The attacking force in Undertower may already be using the transport point in the Cathedral in Undertower. It is more important to secure the transport point rather than the invading force. Tyvalt waves transport fees or favor that Ashlyn incurred. Tyval says that we could consult the "mummy" - the dwarf in Tarrytown that was formerly an inhabitant of Undertower.Snogmaul Peter D. Tyvalt loans a gem of seeing (three charges per day) to Ashlyn. Once the current conflict is resolved, Tyval wants the gem back or a rare magic item of equal value in its place. Ashlyn asks, "How do I get back to Undertower as soon as possible?" Tyval says that he has it taken care of. Ashlyn also mentions that she has made contact with the Duke of Malring. Ashlyn has gotten closer than any Marvad agent has... ever. Ashlyn even tells that the group has "the rings of the elements."Snogmaul Peter D. Tyval passes Ashlyn two scrolls of "sending." He asks if she has "hero's blood."Snogmaul Peter D. Bael returns Ashlyn to the Burning City, but does not go himself. Ashlyn conveys that House Marvad will support the securing of the Deep Cathredal. Ashlyn will travel by broom. Go two hours, rest an hour until she gets home to Tarrytown. It works. She sees an armored House Telx caravan heading to Tarrytown.Snogmaul Peter D. Meanwhile back in Undertower...Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul sneaks to tier 11 and hears a couple of hobgoblins talking about using a lift for bringing up heavies. Cursed storefront is on tier 9 and the stone creature is on tier 10. Vargas polymorphs into an air elemental and does some scouting of his own. If the party is to go down there will need to be a good route. There is a tower, multi-tier building that goes from tier 7 to at least tier 14. It used to be library, possibly a fire, flood, and it has been damaged. The "building" is the parties best chance to go below without being attacked. The building is near spoke 4. It is now day 5 Ashlyn returns.Snogmaul Peter D. Meeting up we exchange info. Tier 20 hobgoblins are working on building heavy engine equipment to move the lifts. Spoke 3 lift would then be operational. This info is from the air elementals. The east lift. Snogmaul returns with his info. Dinnertime at the Barrigan Estate; good food and good conversation.Snogmaul Peter D. Andre to Matt, "Everything you have said has led to a greater problem."Snogmaul Peter D. The party checks in with Groma at the Berserker Tavern. Crow asks if we can speak to the Hallow Sage. And he goes on to tell her, Groma, we are interested in tiers 20-23, the Deep Cathedral. 100 gp per question and 500 gp per question if we are asking in secret, the rates are as stated. Crow says that Brother Lucius, Ashlyn, Crow, Vargas, and Orestes will go to see the Sage tomorrow morning.Snogmaul Peter D. The characters that are going to see the Sage go to a tent and Snogmaul follows them to a guarded tent. The group continues by going underground then moves to another tent and then walk across part of town and repeats this a couple more times. Finally the group ends up underground with the Sage. The party members ask questions of Groma, who in turn asks the Sage.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn asks abou the location of the Cathedral and the Sage responds with tier 23, spoke 3 and 4, and rib 2 and 3 is the location of the Deep Cathedral.
Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes asks the location of the Ebon Smith Clan and the answer is below tier 45 and adds that the clan was crafting true steel and were working with the dark elves. Iron Keeners Clan location; most in tier 27, 28, and 29, no specific estate. Orestes asks about the location of Clan Crogan and the answer; spoke 6, 7, 8, and tier 30, 31, 32 and some on 33. Location of Clan Drakken; the answer is one vault and otherwise traveled, no one knows where the vault was, some guess tier 43 and some say tier 23, probably all lies, they were servants of the wyrms. Orestes gives a slight bow to the Sage and is concluded. Brother asks about acquiring the services of a warforged archivist. The answer: warforged were imperialists, some existed in the private libraries. Brother asks if there is a private library that has one and the answer is that there were some warforged in the College of Smithing, tier 19, spoke 6 and 7. Vargas asks the great wyrm fell from the shadow and went to the Scaled City. She visited here say the rumors. The answer is that wyrms never entered here. Crow asks about the structure from 7 to 14, possibly a library. How much deeper does it go? The Sage does not know of the library that is spoken of.
Snogmaul Peter D. Crow goes to buy potions, specifically potion of fire resistance. In stock 2 fires resistance, 1 lightning resistance, 2 poison resistance, 1 radiant resistance, and 2 thunder resistance, at 200 gp each. And we pick up our contracted 7 tremor sense potions, one for each of us. He asks that we report back to him how the tremor sense works... or doesn't. It lasts one hour.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn fills her "water skins" with wine at the Gilded Gardens. We go to tier Barrigan Estate and then to tier 7. There are still creatures we encounter as we travel Undertower. They are just not worth noting as our abilities allow us to easily deal with them.Alden Ray C. By the time Funny To John and I are free, we'll be able to play with Andre's kids.Snogmaul Peter D. We go to rib 4 spoke 4 and are in the "library tower." There was definitely a fire and the structure was stone and survived. The contents was burned, books and all. Further down there was some huge amount of water. Some of the books got wet and then molded into nothing. The construction is interesting and there is not anything that made this building noteworthy. The stairways literally burned up the interior of the building. Possibly the water went down in an attempt to put the fire out. The stairs continue down past tier 14 and it continues to 17. We are not likely the first to go in this building. Others before us have looted. The oldest is on top with the newer being below. This construction was probably 3 generations worth work. Snogmaul draws it out so that Orestes can study the plans later. There is some aspect about the building that is arcane. Vargas takes a look at Snogmaul's map and info and it reminds Vargas of the Amulet of the Planes. This place was built before the sundering.
Snogmaul Peter D. The building continues on to tier 18; the stonework is rougher and there are two doorways; one to darkness and one to spoke 4. Nothing can be seen, even with dark vision into the dark doorway. Vargas casts light and the darkness envelopes it. Orestes hands Snogmaul an unlit torch and Snogmaul puts the end of it into the darkness. The darkness pulls the torch in and it is gone. Shade casts detect conjuration magic and finds the whole area, building is magic. Vargas uses his arcane knowledge and his best guess is the dark area is a gate. Our travel time about an hour since we walked down about 50 sets of stairs. Orestes may in the future cast wall of stone on the dark opening. We go into the tier. We have two tiers to go.
Snogmaul Peter D. Crow asks an air elemental to scout for us, creatures and stairs??? The elemental flies off. It comes back; no stairs, no hobgoblins. The big shaft was "empty." We proceed carefully down one rib and in front of one of the shops. There is an ogre made entirely made of clay, it turns so it is not a statue. Three of our group see there is a lot of debris, actually dead bodies in varying stages of decay. Wedged in the clay are bits of its past victims. Some victims are even stuck in the wall. Snogmaul pulls a dire wolf from the bag of tricks and tells it to approach the circle of carnage. The wolf is safe and Snogmaul moves up closer beside the wolf. Snogmaul is able to see the store signage which indicates the shop is an alchemist's shop. Snogmaul uses his arcane knowledge to tell the party that there are immunities. Golems can have traits generally but bonus traits. Norm for clay is "haste" and fuel by life force, they suck life energy out of the victim. Acid heals clay golems and they get advantage on many types of elemental magic. There is also some ability to stick into the walls. If the golem is standard then enchanted weapons will harm it but no other weakness. Non-magic weapons do no damage, likely. Life force damage can only be restored by greater restoration or similar magic. We decide to go around.Snogmaul Peter D. The wolf is sent across the street carnage area. It is taken out with three hits, all in the three in top teens. The wolf is dead. Brother wants to go back to rib 4 toward spoke 3. As we are heading toward rib 3 we can hear the distant clinking of metal. There is a lot of it; sounds like 20 people banging or dropping coins. It could be chains. There might be the cracking of a whip. We are NOW at rib 4, spoke 3.Snogmaul Peter D. We are several hundred feet away from the central shaft. We see a hubbub of work and bursts of fire. Vargas, Ashlyn, and Shade see mostly hobgoblins (maybe some larger over-seers) and can see that they are hauling huge lengths of chain. Some of the chains are moving by themselves.Snogmaul Peter D. Experience: exploration by Ashlyn 10%, investigation for Hollow Sage 5%, exploring the "library of the planes" 5%, investigation of golem 5% = .25 our new level 8.5Session 21 2017.12.9Snogmaul Peter D. We resume with the party on tier 18; rib 3, spoke 3. We are traveling using dark vision. There is motion ahead. The creatures are going in and out of an opening to the right. As it turns out, Vargas can NOT cast darkvision on Brother Lucius. Vargas can only cast the spell on HIMSELF for free. Ashlyn may or may not cast darkvision on Brother. Ashlyn casts pass without a trace on herself, Snogmaul casts invisibility on Ashlyn, and then she moves toward the building at the end of the spoke. She can see many hobgoblins in battle gear working. They are shouting back and forth about construction. The doors to the engine room 10 foot double doors, 20 foot opening. There are lots of chains of differing weights laying about. There is a smithy which is powered by a couple of hell hounds. The building goes from the central shaft outward about 100 feet. There is a troll carrying a huge gear. There are likely 20 hobgoblins. Six additional hobgoblins are "heavy hitters." There are also three commanders. The ceiling is about 20 feet above. There are several other hell hounds about with hobgoblins that are controlling them. There are also two war trolls. The shaft goes down about 2 tiers. Some of the chains go through the ceiling. This mechanism or engine is likely connected to a couple other similar mechanisms. Peering down, 100+ feet, there is some kind of "spider." It is hard to make out what the creature is. There are many gears, chains and pieces.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn mounts the broom of flying and flies down the shaft to get a closer look at the "spider." The engine is driven by a coal powered furnace. But the system that is being used now is a group of chains that is some sort of mass. The weird thing is the new method of powering the elevator. Ashlyn uses her gem of seeing. She sees there is some sort of molten metal creature and an invisible humanoid creature standing on the floor. The cloaked figure is directing molten creature. A fleshy humanoid hand is protruding from the cloak. Ashlyn returns. In her assessment, they are nearly complete with their work. There were no access doors on tier 19. There might be a door on tier 20... or not.Snogmaul Peter D. Arcana checks all around on the chain creature; Snogmaul is the high with 24. A couple things come to mind. There are chain golems. That takes a lot of power. This type of secret is lost in the sundering. There are also chain devils. It has knowledge of things people are "chained" to in life. It is considered to be a mid-range devil. The trick with devils is to get the devils on the prime material plane. The ball of fire suggests that there is more than simple telekinesis. There are also djinn or efreet used by wish. All four of the above require direction, as could be with the invisible guy. A chain devil might require domination to keep it doing the activity it is being directed to do.Snogmaul Peter D. The battle mat is out, the minis are on the table and we are rolling initiative. Shade 6, Crow 13, Snogmaul 11, Ashlyn 10, Lucius 11, Orestes 9, Vargas 19! Snogmaul poisons three bolts in preparation for the fight. Eight rounds go by as we wait for one of the war trolls to come into the corridor. Crow casts chain lightning, targeting one hell hound and then two heavies and one commander. Crow does 46 hp dmg or 23 for save. One of the heavies dies. Right after the lightning, Vargas casts fireball centered on the troll and picking up six hobgoblins for 25 pts dmg, save for 12. The troll misses its save and five of the hobgoblins die. Crispy well done! "Ow," says the troll. Brother Lucius casts fireball from his ring doing 21 pts of dmg. The troll takes full damage, the commander takes 10 pts dmg, the hell hounds are immune, and two hobgoblins die. Ashlyn activates the gem of true seeing, mounts the broom and flies along the ceiling down the hall toward the open double doors.Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes moves forward 40 feet and casts gong of the summit (What is that?). The shattering noise does 15 pts of dmg, 7 for those that save. One hobgoblin dies and two others were effected, one being a commander. Team Hobgoblin goes! The hobgoblins move forward out of the room and down the hall. They form ranks. The second troll comes out of the room and both move down the hall toward us. Shade casts an ice storm and does 27 pts dmg killing seven hobgoblins right off and two more saved but still died. The war troll takes full dmg... and is still up (63 pts of dmg so far). Both commander hobgoblins shout out directions as they move forward (game mechanic, those under their command get a bonus. The other commanders and heavies move forward after coming out of the room. The hell hounds are unleashed! One of them charges Orestes. The one on Orestes attacks with its bite for 4 and then 10 pts fire dmg.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas uses the rod of rulership to take control of the evil forces (with our "coins" we give disadvantage to the unwounded troll, and the two commanders). The hell hounds, two failed and two saved. The war trolls, both fail. Three heavies, all fail. The two commanders, both failed. Vargas commands the hobgoblins to fall back and guard the side passageways with the hounds. The trolls are instructed to hold position in the main passageway. Crow casts wind wall with two saving, one hell hound misses doing 16 pts dmg to those that missed their saves, half for those that saved. This means two more hobgoblins died; these were some of the group of hobgoblins that were not under Vargas' control. Brother moves up the hallway toward the open double doors. Snogmault moves up 25 feet. Ashlyn flies into the room and looks down with the gem of seeing to look at the invisible guy. Orestes uses a chi point to disengage and moves through the wall into a room with equipment storage. He then goes through another two wall and ends in the engine room. Orestes is flying. Vargas casts a shield spell and two hobgoblins miss their crossbow shots at Vargas. Two of the heavies try to convince them to stop firing. The war trolls move to the positions Vargas directed them to.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade moves up. Chains in the area of Orestes start moving and are reaching out to him. Both strike him; doing 11 and 10 pts of dmg. He is wrapped up or grappled and the escape DC is 14. There are barbs or hooks protruding from the chains. The "ball of fire and chains" seems to be directing the chains. One of the heavies in the doorway hurls a javelin at Orestes and misses. The main hallway is now clear except for the two war trolls. Vargas casts erupting earth with a save for half on the group in the doorway; the ground under the group of bad guys explodes into uneven terrain. The damage 37 pts for no save. One heavy dies and both hobgoblins in the hallway also die. Both hell hounds in the doorway took damage but did not die.Snogmaul Peter D. The commanders in the side halls fall back as instructed to do by Vargas. The commander in the doorway closes one of the doors. Crow fires arrows from his long bow and misses twice and hits twice for 6 and 13 hp. Brother Lucius moves forward to stand by Shade. Snogmaul pulls a giant elk out of the bag of tricks and then moves forward 25 feet. Ashlyn casts darkness in the 30 ft diameter sphere in between Orestes and the chain creature. Orestes then takes 22 pts of dmg from the barbed chains. He then tries to break free and does. Orestes then rises through the room of the engine room and pops his head through the floor of the room above. He is now in a small maintenance room. There is oil in the room. There is a small access door out of the room. He is taking a breather.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade moved forward up to the war trolls and stopped. He intends to move forward on his next turn. The chains in the little room Orestes is in start to grow barbsorhooks. The hell hound by the double doors is ordered into the engine room. The heavy near the doors closes the second door! Vargas orders the war trolls to fall back to the double doors. The hobgoblin commander questions Vargas as to why they are doing what they are doing. Vargas replies that the engine room has been compromised. The hobgoblins are to hold position and prepare in case they are needed. Brother Lucius, Crow and Shade are up even with the trolls. Snogmaul and the elk move 50 ft and are right behind the other three party members.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn holds fast. Orestes exits the small room through a stone wall into an access tunnel and a stairway going down can be seen. It is a spiral staircase. He continues through the next wall and drinks a healing potion. The war trolls move as Vargas directed them to do. Shade moved up with the trolls to be near the doors. Vargas is also there.Snogmaul Peter D. The voice from the bottom of the engine room says to the hobgoblins, "Stay. I will inform him." And then the invisible guy casts a spell and leaves. VargasSnogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul moves up and readies to use the chime of opening. Vargas passes his coin to Ashlyn and she gets a 24 to pass without a trace or sneak. She had to do this due to the fact that casting the darkness spell caused the invisibility spell to fall. She is now hiding at the top of the room.Snogmaul Peter D. Readied actions: Shade prepares to charge in and attack the commander with his sword when the doors open. Vargas prepares to attacks the twin fire chromatic orb on the commander, Crow is going to attack the commander when the door opens, Brother Lucius casts spiritual weapon and prepares to attack. The trolls are to open the door when the chime sounds and the doors become unbarred. Snogmaul rings the chime of opening. The trolls open the doors. Shade attacks the commander and does not hit. The commander hits with a critical and misses his second and hits with his third attack. The commander does 12 and 16 and 11 pts of damage. The heavy attacks Shade with a great sword and hits once and misses once. The heavy does another 21 pts damage. The hell hounds attack with their breath weapon. Shade saves and takes 11 pts damage; 1 HP left! Crow saved and took 11 pts dmg. The second hound breathes for 14 pts dmg, 7 pts dmg. Shade falls! Oh no!!! Vargas opens fire on the commander. One orb hits and one misses. The commander takes 20 pts dmg. Crow swings and gets a critical hit on the commander!!! He does 22 pts damage. His second attack misses. The elk moves into the room. The elk attacks with its horns one of the hell hounds and does 10 pts of dmg.Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes moves into another crawl space room after checking to be sure there is not an animated chain active. The massive chain creature is moving up to our level which is 80 feet up, even with the landing which we are now fighting on. The heavy attacks Crow for 22 pts dmg. One of the hounds bites Crow and does some fire damage for 13 pts dmg. (But the hell hounds actually go before Vargas. The rolls were early. The hell hounds are at the top of the round.)Snogmaul Peter D. End of session; no experience due to ending in the middle of the fightSession 22--2018.3.10 The Great Hobgoblin Debate
Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes considers the idea of asking for help from the duergar that are already on tier 23 and below (made and insight check). Even though these dwarves are not of Orestes clan they would still likely help because their hate is greater for hobgoblins. Spoke 8 is where the duergar are and we are across the central shaft from them. Other options include: Malring (travel time to Undertower is the drawback) the Malringers are already at war and are unlikely to want to take on others that are not dragons says Brother, also Malring has never ever sent an army out for another purpose says Snogmaul; Giants will be no good down here; The High Temple would have already sent a force if they could have says Brother Lucius; House Marvad does have forces to send but once they show up it will be hard to dislodge them, Marvad would send major forces through;Snogmaul Peter D. One of our air elementals returns and tells us that something is coming up the lift! There are four war trolls coming up the lift into the Barrigan Estate. We are in one of the dining halls when we get word or hear the commotion in the hall. Snogmaul casts invisibility on himself and moves into the hallway. There are two war trolls and there are some snake-humanoids and a giant skeleton with skin stretched over the bones, and a reptile leader and there are some more. Ashlyn casts darkness on the group of invaders in a 15 ft sphere. And then she shadow steps back 60 ft.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas casts stone skin on Crow. Bony thing with wings and a scorpion tail flies down the hallway and covered 80 ft and it then looks in the doorway at the remaining characters in the dining room. The creature is a bone devil, the tail is venomous and causes death or great sickness. The pole are the bone devil is carrying can hold in place anybody caught by it. Orestes moves out into the hallway by passing through the wall. He stands behind the Snogmual and uses fist of unbroken air. The bone devil makes its save and is not knocked prone. It does take 10 pts bludgeoning damage. The three snake-humanoids move forward and fire bows. There is one arrow that makes a hit but Orestes catches it and throws it and then hurls it at the bone devil. The bone devil is uninjured. Orestes takes 3 and 6 piercing and then half poison for 3 and 6. The third creature move up near the doorway without firing an arrow. Brother Lucius tries to banish the bone devil (Brother Lucius uses his inspiration) and is successful. The bone devil is gone as long as Brother Lucius concentrates for the next ten rounds.Snogmaul Peter D. 15 pts of bludgeoning damage from a Windwall to the snake-humanoid from the spell cast by Crow. A huge snake-humanoid moves forward and it has a large bow and it hisses "Your only hope to escape is to take the shaft. Take the lift." Crow fails his saving throw and as long as the creature concentrates the suggestion will work. Shade moves into the hallway and casts eldritch blast at the large guy and misses. The war trolls move through the wind wall; one saves and takes 7 dmg and the other takes 15 pts of dmg. One of them bumps into the invisible Snogmaul. Snogmaul stealthily moves back and the war troll does not get an attack of opportunity as it missed its perception. Ashlyn drops the wall of darkness and we can now see the lift is down below our level.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn runs forward and attacks one of the war trolls and hits once. She does 11 pts dmg with her staff and does a stunning strike and the troll is stunned until the end of Ashlyn's next turn. She then shadow steps back to her starting point and around the corner. The lift returns to our level and there are move humanoids, likely hobgoblins, and a couple hell hounds. Vargas moves into the hallway and then shadow steps back down the hallway toward the main shaft. He then activates the rod of rulership to cause a wisdom saving throws with a 15 needed; Vargas shouts to those affected "Form a defensive line here!" Hells hounds run through the wind wall and make their saves. One of the hell hounds breathes on Crow, Brother, and Shade. 28 pts of dmg to Shade and 14 pts to Crow from fire dmg. Brother is immune to fire and so took no damage.Snogmaul Peter D. Gong of the Summit is activated by Orestes and he does 12 pts of dmg to those that miss their con save and 6 to those that saved. In the area affected are two snake guys and two hell hounds and a big guy. The big guy makes his save to maintain concentration. Some of the invaders begin to form a line as directed by Vargas. Brother Lucius cast dispel magic to remove the suggestion from the mind of Crow. After Crow comes to his senses he attacks the stunned troll. One of the hell hounds gets and OA and misses Crow. Crow then attacks four times and does 17, 12, 12 and 23 pts of dmg! Woohoo!!! That troll is down. The snake-humanoid tries to grapple Shade with its tail and misses. Then it tries to bite him with its fangs and he takes 8 pts piercing and 12 poison dmg. And then the giant scimitar does 13 more slashing dmg. The creature did take 20 pts of dmg but saved for less.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade attacks and does 8 pts of dmg with his sword. The creature makes a wisdom saving throw and misses, now it has a disadvantage to attack all others than Shade. One of the hobgoblins moves up to just before the wind wall. One of the war trolls attacks Crow and hits with its claw for 7 pts of slashing dmg. He then attacks with his massive sword and misses. The troll that was down now stands up.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas has the enemies stand down. And then Vargas begins questioning the top rank yuan-ti. Vargas asks what is the status of the lifts. Yuan-ti responds that they have found other ways; stairs, hallways, etc. They have had to clear out other creatures to make progress. There was a slime colony and there was a family that was turned to ghosts. Vargas asks, "Where are the hobgoblins coming from?" "They are coming through the circle and we have navigating wizards," says the yuan-ti. "If we had a base on this side the giants would fall. This will all be Dawn Realm," says the yuan-ti. The other circles in Undertower were damaged and not usable." Vargas asks if there are "reinforcements coming?" Yuan-ti says "Yes." Vargas asks about the commander. Yuan-ti answers that "the commander is in the command center or in the field." Ashlyn wants to know which side of the gate the command center is on. The command center is the Cathedral at the circle here. The Cathedral is desecrated and is now unholy ground. The yuan-ti goes on to say that there is a wizard that has been made available to the commander. Vargas goes on to find out that there are oni that are important in the Dawn Realm. Yuan-ti is a royal pure blood, the "wizard."Snogmaul Peter D. The heavies, war trolls and gorgons, are up to tier 10. It is likely the "royalty" can scry on us from her extensive spell book. She can also summon devils, bone devils in particular. The yuan-ti also says that the "royalty" often enters the battle in another's body, likely uses magic jar. So she probably is able to cast up to 6th level spells. And therefore she is an 11th level wizard, and lower than 13th.Snogmaul Peter D. The yuan-ti have an innate ability to influence minds. Vargas inquires about a second wave attacking the Estate. The yuan-ti also says that no one is leaving the Estate. Crow and Snogmaul agree that the lift in the Estate is a chokepoint. We think it unlikely that there will be another attack via this route. By the same token we probably do not want to use the lift as an exit as the other end is a choke point for us.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas is trying to get the yuan-ti to divulge where the magic jar is and the yuan-ti does not know. The yuan-ti is very loyal to the wizard and it does not understand what the risk is. It is having trouble figuring out what to do to get the magic jar to safety.Snogmaul Peter D. Five lances (four gorgons with riders) of cavalry, five companies of heavy infantry, two platoons (ten trolls) of assault, misc support units, scouts special forces. There may be as many as 1000 hobgoblins.Snogmaul Peter D. We vote to kill all of the captured and rod controlled creatures; four characters in favor and three opposed.Snogmaul Peter D. arcana Snogmaul 10; deception Ashlyn 18; insight Orestes 24; persuasion Vargas 21; combat Crow 16 22 23 24 and Shade 13 13 25 28; Intelligence Brother 17 = total of 12 helps; so twelve of thirteen of the invasion units we killed, one war troll got awaySnogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn is going to her room in the manor to prepare for her scouting into the Cathedral the next day. The rest of the party... or Vargas is leaving the rod of rulership with Brother Lucius and Ashlyn is leaving in her room 7000 GP, cloak of displacement, magic shuriken, all potions except healingSnogmaul Peter D. There was one magic item in the group of baddies: very large scimitar the yuan-ti used (curved great sword for us) two handed scimitar that is life stealing and does 10 necrotic damage and gain 10 temporary hit points when rolling a 20 on the attackSnogmaul Peter D. Experience: 10 medium fight, 5 roleplay interrogation, 5 execution skill challenge; we are level 9.2Session 23--2018.4.28 Ashlyn Explores the 23 Tier
Snogmaul Peter D. Revise: Long rest first. Orestes casts Wall of Stone over the opening of the lift on the Manor level. Brother Lucius prepares stone shape. Ashlyn and Vargas will scout the route to level 23. Before leaving Snogmaul casts invisibility on Ashlyn and Vargas will cast invisibility on himself. The invisibility will last one hour. Vargas flies via his boots and Ashlyn is flying with her broom. Vargas uses an attunement slot for Helm of Telepathy, since he is not using the Rod of Rulership. The meet up point should the two scouts get separated is the mysterious black door opening within 24 hours from the time of departure. After the opening is sealed the air elementals are sent out around the estate to find an opening. There is also an Oni among the enemy army and they can take gaseous form. Oni can also be invisible, FYI. The air elementals can move out through one of the vents or openings. On an arcana check, Snogmaul knows that Oni can produce darkness and invisibility as needed. They may be from another plane or some demi-plane. They can change their shape into small to large creature, up to giant. They study magic. They can charm people and can cast cold spells at others. These last two abilities are limited. Oni can also regenerate and fire does not keep them from regenerating. If someone kills an Oni, it stays dead. It is not resistant to anything, but tries to avoid direct confrontation. They love magic, so it might try and steal items. They do not act like ogres, but are more into deception. This one may be a behind the scenes general.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn remembers an Oni that was in the service in of a demon queen. The Oni worked very hard to bring about events through manipulations, negotiations, guile, and back room tactics to achieve their objective or the objective of their master or partner. Oni in the history of Dawn Realm were a very powerful field agent.Snogmaul Peter D. An air elemental will patrol near the secret door on the outside of the Estate so that it can relay a message to those party members inside who will then open the secret door.Snogmaul Peter D. The scouts use the secret door to the central shaft tier 5, with a narrow walkway near spoke 2. Heading to spoke on tier 23. Tier 9 on down are all barricaded with piled up rubble, some stone walls and other ways. (broom flies at 50 ft) There is no activity in the central shaft now. The blocked spokes are three in number, #s 2, 3, and 4. The scouts arrive at spoke 3, tier 23, about 10 feet to the left of the most left arrow slit. Vargas will check any creatures within 30 feet. He picks up about a half dozen behind the barricade and one in the shaft... likely Ashlyn (laughter). They communicate what they have seen in shaft. Ashlyn looks through a arrow slit and sees a group of hobgoblins and one yuan-ti. It has snakes for arms. Ashlyn also sees a war troll and pops in front of it where its shadow is. Vargas teleports to the same spot as Ashlyn after she moves out of the way. The war troll sniffs the air to sense what has changed in the air.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn moves to hide in a corner of the room and Vargas pings for Ashlyn and then sneaks away from the war troll (15 to sneak). He looks for other shadows to teleport to. There is an ornate door in the room, the door itself casts a dim light; this is about 40 feet down the spoke 3; there are six hobgoblins in front of it. There is also another war troll in front of two openings. Ashlyn can hear Vargas moving but the troll does not. Going to the rib toward to rib 4 there is a pile of rubble and Ashlyn is hiding behind it, joined by Vargas. (note: living spaces in Undertower is about 1 foot thick stone walls)Snogmaul Peter D. One concern: with about 20 feet from the war troll it may not be a good idea to talk, thinks Vargas.Snogmaul Peter D. An air elemental returns to speak to Crow. It tells him that there are forces gathering like those that came before. The other guys have heavy boxes. Crow goes to the Plaza of Elements. The lift is made of metal as are the chains it moves on.Snogmaul Peter D. Back to the scouts: Ashlyn asks Vargas "Where do you want to go?" Ashlyn suggests that the glowing door might be to the temple, but is it really? They go down the spoke, hand in hand. The war troll is squinting in their direction. Vargas sneaks fairly easily and Ashlyn is okay, she thinks. Ashlyn is looking for another entrance to the space that the glowing door goes to. The scouts are within 60 feet of the next intersection. There is a conversation, snake voice talking and a troll responding, language is common. The hissing voice says "by tomorrow," then deep troll voice "all of us", then yuan-ti says "bring up to tier 5". Some sort of heavy equipment is mentioned. (Hey wait a minute... the Estate is on TIER 5!) This means that half of the heavies are moving up to our tier.Snogmaul Peter D. This war troll has many body part trophies hanging from its person. Ashlyn casts Pass without a Trace where upon she becomes visible. Then Vargas casts invisibility at third level to make both of them invisible again. Then the scouts go passed the yuan-ti and the war troll. They see down the way and there are fortifications, war trolls, and more and polished gems and very ornate doors! The door has relief and the military force in front. The relief shows several pantheon work of gods. The interwoven pantheons; dwarven, Greek, Roman, et al. Each door is 20 feet high and 10 feet tall; there are two of them side by side. The ten hobgoblin heavies, hell hounds, war trolls, and a yuan-ti with snake arms in charge. A patrol is heading toward the scouts. The patrol is walking four hobgoblins waving their swords above their heads abreast and two hell hounds. They seem to be using tactics to find invisibility searching methods. The our scouts fly up then try to teleport behind the patrol. Vargas tries to sneak but is detected by one of the hell hounds after he teleports. Ashlyn is still in front of the patrol.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas returns to the space near Ashlyn, but Ashlyn is not aware of Vargas. Ashlyn hears Vargas return and locates him by touch. The patrol is still trying to find out what the hound is reacting to. What to do? What to do?Snogmaul Peter D. Note: the big double door has glowing brightly gems, meant to be impressive. The smaller door is just a dim glow. The two scouts try and return to the pile of rubble. The scouts go back near the "back door." They are watching for movement. The door hobgoblins also have two hell hounds lying at the hobgoblins' feet. Another patrol is moving along the spoke, in addition to the one encountered earlier on the rib that they managed to avoid. They return to the rubble pile. The oni likely came up with the patrol methodology.Snogmaul Peter D. As the scouts move they are noticed and a hobgoblin attacks Ashlyn and misses. Next both of the hounds breathe! Fire... Ashlyn makes both dex saves and takes no damage. Vargas makes both saves and takes half damage from each hound, 5 pts and 5 pts of dmg. Vargas has to make sure he maintains concentration, that is he makes two constitution saves. He makes both saves! The scouts are still invisible. They continue on their a way and an alert goes out. The troll comes to the scene. As they go down the spoke 3 they come upon a war troll quickly heading their way. They fly past it. The scouts get to the intersection of the spoke and the rib. They turn to the right. The exterior wall, of what they assume to be the temple, is intentionally worked and their is nice art work. There may even be semi-precious stone inlaid in the wall. There is now a sweep patrol coming down a rib and they hold the intersection. The scouts are now in a spoke, in a holding pattern.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn flies passed the patrol and does not try to be stealthy. The hobgoblins attack with their bows and all of them miss. The hell hounds then try to breathe on Ashlyn but miss. Vargas tries to fly passed and is heard by one hobgoblin and one hell hound but are unable to take an action. Hobgoblins move at 30 and Vargas moves at 40 and Vargas catches up Ashlyn. All are moving at double speed. There is another a patrol. There are some doors on the non-temple side wall. Possibly doors to stores. [break for dinner]Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn suggests that as they go along the rib they check out the doors and shops that are along the way. The shops used to sell items related to temple worshipers visit to the Cathedral. Ashlyn is going to try to go to spoke 6 which is not blockaded with rubble. Ashlyn is doing a "noisy" fly by and there are four heavy crossbow shots from the hobgoblin patrol and one hits for 11 pts of dmg. The hell hounds breathe and the monk avoids it. Vargas uses stealth to move easily past. And now are continuing around to spoke 5 and there is not patrol. Traveling toward spoke 6 and rib 2 intersection on tier 23, the scouts see on the ground rubble and then as they get closer there is some bleached bones, the floor is slightly corroded. There may be fifteen humanoid bones along with other creatures bones. The stonework is also slightly corroded. They stop.Snogmaul Peter D. Behind them the scouts hear a familiar clanking of chains and it is getting closer. They come to the an area that looks may have been residences. Some of the doors are missing. Some places may have also dissolved wood items along the way. This is on the way to the central shaft. - - - There are carvings in the walls of dragons of all kinds, sizes, shapes and alignments is on the opposite wall. There is an open cave mouth. There is a deep growl from inside that asks, "Who passes?" The voice is draconic. Vargas answers "A humble of Arazahant." "Pass friend," the voice answers. Vargas replies, "Thank you." The dragon apparently breathes acid. Now they are at spoke 6. The scouts stop here. Believing that there spells duration time is about up, Ashlyn re-casts Pass without a Trace and then Vargas re-casts invisibility. They then fly up the central shaft and return to the secret door and the air elemental notifies Orestes who then activates the secret door by pulling a lever inside the wall.Snogmaul Peter D. The scouts relay the info of their mission. Crow asks the air elementals to look for other creatures on tier 5. About two hours after the elementals are sent out they report back that it's not safe there are too many hobgoblin and hell hound patrols. Brother Lucius uses Sending to communicate with Crass to find out how things are on the surface. Crass responds, "Mines currently on lock down. Some hobgoblins seen. Glad you are okay. Need update soon or will need to get help." Snogmaul is working on his maps and he realizes that the hobgoblins really cannot get a big chunk of their forces up here. They might not get more than 5 trolls, possibly 10. And only a fraction of the hobgoblin force. Snogmaul thinks the bad guys would send there "best" pieces. If we could beat the elite troops we would have a much easier time on the back end.Snogmaul Peter D. The party guesses that hobgoblins will likely follow what would be "sensible" orders; if the orders are weird the orders will not be followed. Trolls will likely follow orders which involve killing others. Brother Lucius is preparing to ask a question with Divination. His question is, "How do we best use the resources of the Barrigan Estate to defeat the Dawn Realm forces coming to attack us?"GM Kyle B. The answer comes:"The princes four, for safety paid.Through oath of yore, a home was madeReopened door wisely afraidNow as before,pay dear for aidSnogmaul Peter D. Crow flies to the Plaza of the Elements and asks Keen Howl to have an audience with the elemental princess of air. Keen Howl says that he will tell her. Keen Howl spins faster and faster until the air area has pure air and a opening to the elemental plane is opened. Several elemental creatures show up and then Princess Ahainn "Now that we meet as friends." Crow introduces himself and then explains we are beset by minions of the Dawn Realm and would like her counsel and aide. The Princess asks, "What is the Dawn Realm? What manner of kingdom or creature is it?" She hears about the various creatures in the Dawn Realm and she concludes they are slavers and does not like that idea. Crow goes on to ask for help in the form of intelligence or combat forces. Crow says that he does not know enough about the air elementals and their forces. Princess says that she offers a choice: 1) they will join the fight and in return this "area" and Crow is her subject or 2) you ask anything of me and I ask anything of you. Crow replies that he already has pledged fealty and so he cannot do number 1. Crow asks for a time to consult with his comrades. She then empowers the ring to speak to her when Crow wants to do so. It is possible that she will want the ring in return for the aide she provides.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul, through historic knowledge, says that the rings were part of a deal that made a place for the elemental subjects to live on the prime material plane. The Barrigan clan was to protect the location. The rings will continue to function. Clan Barrigan is gone but the new pact seems to still hold. The air princess will treat us with the same arrangement. She would be willing to support us and the continuation of the estate. The four elemental princes have different mind sets; water is chaotic neutral, air is chaotic good, fire is lawful evil, earth is neutral evil.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade goes to the elemental plaza and asks to Evertide and a portal is opened and a prince, Glaurush, comes forth. There is a gurgling up and asks, "What do you want?" Shade says that land lubbers are coming to take. He responds, "They drown, they drown. Chain devils... blub blub blub. When that are here you drown them. Then this will be all watery." Brother thinks the prince is not very clear about what he means by "flood this place." Brother suggests that Shade get "the area" better defined. Lots of "blub blub blub." Shade asks for water elementals to come to our aide; what would the cost be? What would he want to flood an area in return? The prince asks if the trolls would get the ring from him, Shade. The prince says he would not like that. "You promise to do a little flooding. I will let you decide where." [game terms: he will flood at a huge rate and it will flow and Shade cannot remove the water.] The prince holds Shades hands and confers some power to the ring.Snogmaul Peter D. experience: .10 for moderate encounter, .05 for recon tier 23 plot point, and .05 for elemental point plot point = .2 level increase; we are level 9.4Session 24--2018.5.12
Snogmaul Peter D. Arcana checks to find out why the Elementals would want to have a "link" to the prime material plane. All of the planes are a reflection of the other planes. And therefore influence to those that do not live on the prime. Power can be redirected to the prime material plane. The other planar creatures can send back specific power through a person or location on the prime material. This info is from Snogmaul and Vargas. The efreet and dao are not friendly. The dao (earth) have no mercy to those that are made of water, heat or air. Water and Earth are more long lasting; eg oceans, lakes, mountains. Orestes proceeds and calls upon the Earth Elemental princess. The ground shakes as she emerges from the ground and the floor bursts forth. A large hammer proceeds her. "Have you called to return the ring?" she asks. Orestes explains that there may be an invading force. We could use some of your assistance to protect this area. "There is too much air," she responds. She goes on to say she could fill it all with stone. Orestes replies to the princess her idea would not be helpful as his, Orestes, friends need air. She wants to know what she can fill in and the more the better. "Smashing is entertaining... filling is eternal," she says. Earthquakes, lava and stone added are some of the options she suggests. "One does not win battles on others' ground... assisting would be best by burial," she says. She can send minions to help with the unburying friends or desired areas that need to be explored. "Perhaps you are thinking too small," the princess says. Orestes responds that there are "thousands" of enemies. If we could take on the thousands in small numbers we could manage says Orestes. She is refusing flat out the offer of troops. The dao can travel the planes, can summon elementals, earthy spells at high level and frequently, plus beyond standard abilities like seeing through stone, creating lava, earthquakes, and massive filling says Vargas after an arcana check.Snogmaul Peter D. The princess suggests that Orestes come with her to her palace and from there she will take him to the circle in the deep cathedral. And then Orestes can take on the forces that are occupying the Cathedral. She then says, "I will tell you what is there and then transportation there." She asks for the ring to be returned when Orestes falls or we agree on a reasonable portion that can be solidified and patrolled by my minions." Specifically 1ore of one tier is what she is asking for in solidifying an area. Orestes accepts option two. She holds the ring and now Orestes can speak to her as needed. She sinks back into the earth and repairs the earth as she goes.Snogmaul Peter D. Cinda is the fire elemental representative. The prince of fire is Inceul. Brother Vargas will commune with his goddess, Hestia, to find out what are his limitations when negotiating with the fire elemental. Cinda is more than happy to get the fire elemental prince and it is just like the cover of the old player's handbook. There is so much to do, says the prince. Brother says that he has foes that wish to him and his friends harm. The prince asks if the foes are like him. Lucius explains that there are trolls, yuan-ti, hobgoblins, hellhounds, and others that can summon; a complete rundown on the Dawn Realmers. Brother wants to stop an evading force. The prince pays particular attention to the oni; he wants them for slaves. Brother likes the idea. Ashlyn opposes the idea of oni being enslaved. Then Brother does his commune. He asks if the deal is okay with Hestia. The goddesss responds with "no." And Brother decides that taking something away from its home and life would be wrong. And increasing an evil thing's ability to inflict pain and suffering would be wrong. She would be okay with the death of all our foes. Brother says that he cannot agree to the prince's idea of enslavement. The prince says his services would be "free." Lucius says that, "We will have to come to some other agreement." The prince offers three wishes in return for giving back the Fire Elemental ring to the prince. Brother says he is not interested. Snogmaul knows that efreet believe in subjugation; that is the way things work. If defeated, efreet, think that by defeating an efreet victor is entitled to enslave it. The defeating person(s) can then demand action or service of the efreet. Brother Lucius tells the prince that he does not feel the conversation is leading to anything fruitful at this time. Brother says that he would like to contact the prince at a later date, if that would be okay with the prince. To which Brother is met with, "I cannot promise to respond." The prince says he "hopes (the ring) finds a better master" as he bursts into flame and disappears.Snogmaul Peter D. The patron, Alena, in the Burning City says that we need to clear and consecrate the Deep Cathedral (circle) before she sends priests. This info comes from Brother using "sending."Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes will look through each wall by poking his head through a wall at the secret door that is at spoke 2 & 3 and ribs 1, 2, and 3. The party follows Orestes as he scouts. Start spoke 2 and rib 1; there is a patrol of 6 hobgoblins and couple hell hounds. Three hobgoblins spot Orestes. One crossbow bolt hits critically doing 19 pts and reduces it to 0 and then throws it back at the hobgoblin doing 11 pts dmg to the hobgoblin that fired the crossbow. How monkish! The hobgoblins with great swords attack twice both hit and do 10 and 12. One critical's for 15 pts of damage also. Brother lays hands on Orestes and restores 13 pts. Brother uses a scroll to heal an additional 13 pts of dmg. Vargas casts invisibility on Orestes and Orestes will continue to scout the other intersections. Second intersection is spoke 3 and rib 2. He looks from up above. Troll face! ... war troll. Ten trolls are here!!! At least four of them smell Orestes. Four of the trolls have a metal rams. Some of the trolls swing wildly. Orestes ducks back to our side. Oooh that was a close call.Snogmaul Peter D. There's pounding on the wall, which is the secret door. The trolls got lucky and found it. Initiative are rolled. Vargas casts invisibility on himself thereby cancelling the invisibility on Orestes. There is loud pounding on the door. Crow is ready to attack the first war troll he sees. Shade will attack the first troll he sees. Ashlyn moves to the back row and uses the gem of seeing to scan the area. She sees nothing at this time. Snogmaul pulls a panther out of the bag of tricks. Orestes uses the catch to release the secret door mechanism and the door opens. Brother casts spiritual weapon. We can see four trolls through the open doorway. There are others out of our line of sight. Vargas casts fireball into the hallway and manages to catches eight of the ten trolls in the area of effect. Vargas is now visible. The fireball does 43 pts of dmg; some save and some do not. The first troll pushes into the doorway and tries to enter the rib. Shade attacks as the troll enters and misses with his first attack and gets a critical hit, 18 pts of dmg, on the second attack. This attack does Crow attacks and does 16 pts of dmg and 14 more pts using his great sword.Snogmaul Peter D. Troll (number 4) tries to come through the door and tries to shove Shade out of the way. The troll wins the space in a contest of strength. The troll then takes a swing with his sword missing. Crow swings his great sword and critically injures the troll for 23 pts of dmg. Another troll shoves his way into the room and tries to push Orestes out of the way. Orestes holds his position. Troll five has disadvantage for now and misses its attack on Orestes. Shade swings at the troll and critically does 13 pts of dmg (on number 4). The second attack on also connects and 8 pts of dmg is done. Ashlyn teleports next to the troll and hits once doing 5 pts of dmg and then she runs away to her starting place. There is wall smashing next to the door. Snogmaul fires a bolt and misses. Snogmaul uses his sneak attack and hits this time doing 31 pts of dmg and it dies. And now another troll jumps into the space vacated by the troll Snogmaul killed. This troll gets critical hit for 24 pts with an armored claw and then attempts to bite Shade but misses. The massive sword then finds Shades chest doing 20 more pts of damage.Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes casts shatter, targeting damage in a 10 foot radius with a loud gonging. Sonic damage of 17 for missed save; half dmg for save. Brother Lucius cast guardian spirits and several angelic creatures appear. Spiritual weapon, boosted by divine strike, by Brother does 16 pts dmg. Ashlyn sees another invisible troll running by the open doorway in the spoke.Snogmaul Peter D. Session over. :confused:Session 25--2018.6.9
GM (Kyle B.) Initiatives:21 Vargas14 Crow12 Shade11 Ashlyn10 Snogmaul6 Orestes5 Brother LuciusSnogmaul Peter D. Vargas continues the fight; Vargas casts fireball and it is a dex save (dc 18) for the trolls, the ball is centered against the back wall of the hallway. The damage total is 15, save to 7 pts damage. Regeneration is prevented this turn for all trolls that took fire damage from the fireball. One of the trolls moves from down the hall to help his friend use the ram to demolish the wall so they can fit through. Crow swings and misses once and hits once. The second swing of his sword does 15 pts of damage to (dark green) troll. Crow uses his action surge and gets a second attack action and misses once and criticals once. The critical hit does a massive 25 pts of damage and the troll goes to ground with his chest caved in by a sword blow. The black troll misses his wisdom save and takes 14 pts radiant damage. Orestes is hit by a giant claw and takes 18 pts damage. Orestes is lifted to the mouth of the creature and he is a tasty snack for 8 pts damage. But wait the troll swings his sword to do 24 pts of damage, chopping into Orestes head. Orestes is looking HURT.Snogmaul Peter D. The wall is starting to show cracks on our side after the repeated pounding the trolls are doing on the other side. Shade moves up 5 feet and critically hits doing more than the minimum 2 pts of damage which is enough to take down the troll. Shade then move into the doorway of the secret door. Ashlyn moves forward to stand next to Shade and he uses to quarter staff strikes, critical hit and regular hit. Damage is 16 pts and a chi point for a stunning strike (dc 16 con save) with the troll making it. Another 8 pts damage and he misses his con save so the troll is stunned until Ashlyn's next turn. Ashlyn then retreats. Snogmaul fires a bolt from the Cartographer's doing 25 pts of damage and it goes down. The panther bounds forward into the doorway and attacks one of the trolls using the ram. The cat takes a bunch of damage from one of the trolls that was not in line of sight and kitty is cut into pieces... it's dead. Orestes using a fist of unbroken air (dc 14) and the troll takes half damage which is 10 pts.Snogmaul Peter D.t Snogmaul Peter D. Brother Lucius cast cure wounds using a second level spell slot doing 23 pts of healing to Shade. Brother follows up using a spiritual hammer for 18 pts of damage to the (purple) troll. Nice job, healed and taking down a troll in one round. A troll from out of sight moves into the open spot to assist in wall smashing; when he does he takes 14 pts of radiant damage. There is now a small opening in the wall. It goes dark! (magical darkness). The hallway the party is in is now in darkness (30 ft on a side square area). FYI: Shade (due to his pact) can see through the darkness as can Ashlyn via gem of seeing. A voice was heard in the hallway by some of us and it was casting a spell. Ashlyn does shout out there is some smoky form in the hallway, but she is the only one that can see it.Snogmaul Peter D. One of the trolls picks up a loose chunk of rock wall and it sails past us and hit the wall near us. Vargas calls out, "Are we going forward?" There is a mix of responses; yes, no, and what. Vargas move forward and out of the darkness; he is now near the wall that has a small hole through it. Vargas readies twin chromatic orbs of fire, spinning round and round flying away from him. One strikes the smoke for 36 pts of damage. The other also does 27 pts of damage to the troll. Vargas used 5 sorcery pts and twinning to do this. The wall now has a big enough hole that the trolls can strike through it. Crow moves toward the voice of Vargas and exits the darkness. Crow hits once and misses once. He does 16 pts of damage, the troll goes down.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade moves up and swings at the "smoke", which he can see. Shade makes a second attack and misses twice. Shade action surges and uses inspiration to get a hit doing 11 pts of damage. He then hits again doing 12 more points of magical weapon damage. Ashlyn takes her bow staff "to the nuts" and hits for 12 pts of damage and the stun failed. Ashlyn returned to the hallway behind the darkness. Snogmaul backs up until out of the darkness and then casts web (using the wand) behind our party to prevent something from sneaking up behind us.Snogmaul Peter D. As the troll moves forward it takes 18 radiant damage from the guardians. Shade is attacked but is missed and Shade responds with riposte doing 13 pts of damage. The sword the troll is swinging connect for 18 pts of damage. Orestes moves along the wall until he is out of the darkness. Once in the light, he drinks a healing potion and gets a whopping 6 pts back.Snogmaul Peter D. One of the trolls hucks a chunk of rock at Shade and misses. Brother Lucius uses his spiritual weapon and does 18 pts damage, five of which are radiant damage. The smoky cloud shifts position and an icy cold wind blows down the hallway (cone of cold). 41 pts of damage, save to 20. Orestes is down! Ashlyn and Crow saved, all others missed their saves. Brother's concentration is broken and the guardians leave. Vargas using a fourth level spell slot Chromatic Orb and misses once and uses inspiration and hits once for 29 pts of fire damage to the "smoke". Vargas then retreats back just before the darkness ends.Snogmaul Peter D. Troll (red) moves five feet toward Shade and misses with a claw. A sword swings toward Shade and also misses. Crow moves into the hallway by passing through Shades space. One attack hits Crow and the other two opportunity attacks miss. Crow takes 19 pts of damage from a sword. Then Crow uses chain lightning from his ring and the primary target is the smoke, and the secondary targets are the three remaining trolls for 41 pts of damage, dc 17 to save for half. All four creatures are damaged but none of them go down. Shade is Dodging.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn teleports next to the smoke and critically hits 9 pts damage and the creature made its save and was not stunned. The smoke takes another hit and collapses onto the floor. She also spent a chi point to try to stun it. Snogmaul dashes forward and fires his crossbow missing the troll he aimed at. Ashlyn is attacked by a troll and hits with a claw for 6 and then a bite for 7 and then the great sword does 18 pts of damage. She is still up! Orestes makes a death save. He makes one death save. "Yeah, not dead yet," says Kyle.Snogmaul Peter D. Brother Lucius takes a foot step back and channels divinity and preserve life and everybody gets 7 hit points except Shade then gets 15. Crow does not get any as he had not lost more than half of his hit points. As a bonus action, Brother hits one of the trolls (yellow) for 13 pts of damage and it goes down. One of the two remaining trolls move up and attacks the monk, missing with the sword and them hts for 22 pts of damage with a claw... down goes the monk. Shade falls asleep. The smoke is trying to get away. Crow misses his opportunity attack and it slowly moves off. Crow shouts out, "It is getting away!"Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas casts fireball and does 23 pts of damage with a save dc of 18. The two trolls are up still; one took fire damage as did the smoke. The (red) troll attacks Crow and does 17 pts with a claw, bite 15 pts, and the sword missed. Crow can see that the smoke is not moving again. Crow hits twice, doing 12 pts of damage and 10 pts of damage with his sword. Ashlyn stabilizes. Snogmaul does 28 pts of damage and it falls to the ground but was not burned this round so it will regenerate. To the other troll Snogmaul does 10 pts damage with a bolt. Snogmaul retreats into the darkness. Orestes comes to and stands up. Orestes drinks his last healing potion and heals 6 hit points. Brother Lucius uses the staff of healing and casts mass cure wounds and all players get back 29 hit points. Go team! We mostly feel better. As a bonus action Lucius attacks and does 19 pts of damage to the last troll... he is still up. Ugh. And then Brother moves into range of an opportunity attack and Brother takes 18 pts of damage from a great sword.Snogmaul Peter D. The darkness goes away!!! The troll misses with all three of its attacks. It is the top of the round and Vargas is up. Vargas uses a second level spell slot to cast chromatic orb on the downed troll and it misses. With advantage the second orb also misses against the one last standing troll. The (red) troll stands back up. The troll then attacks Vargas and who casts shield causing all the troll's attacks to miss. Crow attacks the troll and hits once and critically hits on the second attack; 15 and 14 pts damage. The (red) troll goes back down. Crow moves to behind the (orange) troll heading toward the smoke. Crow uses second wind. Ashlyn shadow steps (teleportation) to a spot in front of the shadow. Ashlyn sees an invisible wall which now separates the party from the smoke. Only Ashlyn knows. She mimes that there is a wall. She also does not see anything down the spoke for 60 ft.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul attacks for 32 pts orange troll. Both Orestes and Brother ready lit torches to burn the next troll that goes down. The smoke gathers itself and tries to move away. As it does, Ashlyn hits it with an opportunity attack and the smoke goes down. Brother Lucius is attacked when the (orange) troll gets back up. It misses all of its attacks. Vargas teleports to the other side of the invisible wall. Vargas then casts second slot chromatic orb fire and misses. The (red) troll gets up and moves towards Brother Lucius and hits with just a claw for 9 pts of damage. Crow moves and is hit by an attack of opportunity and the sword does 17 pts of damage. Crow then attacks (red) troll and hits for 17 pts damage. And then (orange) troll for 15 pts damage. Both trolls go down.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn runs 60 ft down the corridor, teleports 60 feet, getting to the junction of rib 1. Nothing to be seen, even with the Gem of Seeing. She then runs toward the central shaft, not getting all the way there. Snogmaul moves forward with a vial of acid ready to throw it at a troll if burning with torches fail. Orestes "attacks" with the torch fire and does 4 pts of damage to orange. And Brother does 4 pt of fire damage to red with his torch.Snogmaul Peter D. The wall of force does not last to long and the smoke changes into a dead oni. The trolls are dead. The other thing is gone and we do not know what it was. We talk a little and think that potions, magical transportation, magical healing. We remember that oni can have magical regeneration. It works only if the creature has one hit point. (Non-combat rate of regeneration) Magic jar could have been used. A magic jarred troll? Whoever was doing this only did what an oni could do. We also did see a wall of force used when the "elevator machinery" collapsed and the wall held up. Snogmaul checks to make sure the wall the Orestes put in place to block our lift is still in place and it is.Snogmaul Peter D. The armored claw of the trolls were custom made but not super valuable. The oni gear yields enchantment only when the oni lived. No magical loot. There are some 500 platinum coins of Dawnrealm minting on a string and inside the armor we finds ten 5000 gp gems.Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes uses stone shape to fix the wall damaged by the trolls. Brother casts prayer of healing and each player except Snogmaul gets 28 hit points back. We take a short rest and Snogmaul. Some characters use hit dice to get back hit points. We burn the troll bodies in the elemental fires. The basic army is thrown down the central shaft. We put the troll claws are in the vault. The elementals report back that the other forces haveGM Kyle B. XP:20% for a hard fight5% for defeating a key nemesisSnogmaul Peter D. current level = 9.65Session 26-2018.6.16
Snogmaul Peter D. The party decides after resting that we should return to the surface to find out the status of Tarrytown. We will also be able to shop and gather further information. It is likely we will be gone 6 hours. Travel time will be at a minimum 2 hours each direction. We leave by one of the secret doors out of Barragan Estate. We no more get out the door of the estate and down the spoke and there is a corner structure (residence) with odd pilars. Some of the party notices skulls on pilars, Vargas and Shade notice that the pillars have symbology of Orcus. Undead? Snogmaul backs off. We hear some footsteps coming from the footsteps. The doors fly open; six dwarves that look... not well, pale milky white eyes and gaping chest wounds.
Snogmaul Peter D. Initiative:GM Kyle B. 23 Crow17 Vargas16 Ashlyn10 Lucius9 Snogmaul7 ShadeSnogmaul Peter D. Starting turn within 30 feet of "dwarves" and Crow made his constitution save. (We can choose to avoid their gaze, but then attack at disadvantage.) Religion check; Vargas says, "Maybe these are children of the servants of annihilation (bodak)." Crow yells, "Fall back!" And then he releases a chain lightning bolt (uses inspiration and all 3 "luckies" for disadvantage on the creatures saves). Damage 43 pts. Four of them are hit and there is NO effect. They are immune to lightning (new info). Then Crow steps back 30 feet and now stands by Ashlyn. Vargas casts erupting earth and it causes the 20 foot cube to be difficult terrain. It also does 19 pts bludgeoning damage, save to half. One saves and 3 take full damage. Vargas then retreats past Ashlyn and Crow. One of the dwarves comes out and looks into the soul of Vargas in the back of the group. DC 13 con save for Vargas and he makes it. 6 pts damage. Vargas, "That's not that bad. I am going to darken the area." Ashlyn says, "She will cause the darkness after Brother tries to turn the creatures." Another Dwarf comes out of the room and tries to look at Vargas; he makes the con save and takes another 6 pts of damage. The third dwarf comes into the hallway and the Brother is gazed at. He makes his save and takes 14 pts dmg.Snogmaul Peter D. And now the fourth dwarf comes out and Brother saves again. This time he takes 16 pts dmg. And yet another dwarf comes out and gazes at Brother misses his save and he takes 30 and then 30 necrotic damage. Lucius goes down!:skull: Vargas makes his first death save. Then the evil aura causes an automatic strike, missed death save.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul moves back 25 feet back and readies to cast web using the wand should Shade's wall of ice fail to work. Shade using his ring casts ice wall and three of them miss their saves and one makes it. The wall does 32 pts of damage but they are resistant so one takes 16 pts dmg and one takes 8 pts dmg. All four of the front line move to our side of the ice wall. Next Shade grabs hold of Brother and pulls him back to our group. Shade takes 20 pts necrotic damage because the bodak are within 30 of Shade.Snogmaul Peter D. Crow casts wind wall using his ring doing 14 pts of damage and then retreats further and also draws a bow. Vargas decides to cast chromatic orb of the fire type and hits twice for 13 and 20 pts dmg. The creature is resistant to fire so it takes only half. Turns out you can look at the dwarves if you are outside of their 30 foot range. One of the dwarves moves forward and gazes at Vargas doing half damage of 14 pts necrotic dmg (soul damage). Ashlyn averting her gaze of the dwarves and she forces a healing potion down Brother's throat. Lucius gets 7 hit points back and comes back to life. Ashlyn leaves a potion of resistance to necrotic damage on the ground next to Brother. Ashlyn then runs away back even further than where she started her turn.Snogmaul Peter D. A bodak runs up to where our party is lined up. He takes notice of Vargas who makes his saving throw against the necrotic damage and Vargas takes 14 pts dmg. One of the bodak advances on the party and it looks at Vargas who saves and he takes 10 more points necrotic damage. The last one moves up to the group and it decides to attack Vargas yet again. Vargas fails his save and he takes 16 pts damage. The two bodak behind the ice wall seem to be working on bringing it down by their touch and then the wall shivers, shimmers and collapses. The bodak move through the wind wall and take a small amount of damage, 7 pts for one and 3 pts for the other.Snogmaul Peter D. Brother Lucius laying on the ground extends his holy symbol and commands the bodak to be gone, Five of them fail their saves and one makes its save. Brother Lucius then stands up and casts mass healing word. Brother, Vargas and Shade are healed.
Snogmaul Peter D. Brother then takes 30 pts of damage from being within 30 feet of the six bodak, 5 pts from each. He falls to the ground. Then Snogmaul disengages from one of the bodak and then dashes back to stand by Ashlyn. Shade then drags back Brother Lucius. Crow cancels the wind wall so that the fleeing bodak are not injured by the wind. Then Crow backs up and still has his bow out.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas casts polymorph and turns into a huge reptilian creature with lots of teeth and then moves back. Shade takes 2 pts necrotic damage from being within the space of one of the bodak. One of the bodak retreats back into the building it came out of. Ashlyn runs forward to the remaining bodak and (misses her save) and then drops to the ground (being at 0 hit points). The aura does 25 pts of damage to Ashlyn; one death strike. A bodak bails and heads into the building. Then another does the same. And finally the last two flee the area and go back to their abode. The sole remaining bodak reaches down and grabs Ashlyn's heart. Strike two for Ashlyn. Then Brother misses his first death save and then takes a second death strike.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul moves to Brother and gives him a potion of healing and he's alive again. Shade moves forward pulls Ashlyn back. Crow fires his bow twice at the last bodak (and since he was farther than 30 feet no save required). 20 pts of damage done to the bodak and it collapses! Ashlyn makes one death save using an inspiration token. Brother Lucius channels divinity preserve life and Ashlyn is healed for 24 pts and Lucius for 21 pts.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul moves forward, then dashes, then casts web across the doorway. The following members fly to town up the central shaft: Ashlyn, Crow and Vargas. The rest of the party returns to Baragan Manor.
Snogmaul Peter D. When the three party members reach the surface they meet up with Crass. He tells them that the town was being overrun by hobgoblins. They were driven back after some of the mining tunnels were collapsed. Crass was waiting to find out what we had to say. Tiers three and four are being sealed by Crass and company. He goes on to tell the party that the surface cannot take another attack like that. He thinks he might need to make an alliance to help protect the surface. It would not be his first choice. "Tell me why I should not get the giants in here," he says. Ashlyn says, "That if the giants come in he will lose most of our support or all of it." Crass says, "He will not bring in the giants, unless..." Crass has lost friends and he is not at his best. Based on timelines they work out, it seems that the surface hobgoblins retreated when we were successful in driving back the ogres and oni.Snogmaul Peter D. Shades special shield that he was having made is finished. It is +2. Ashlyn picks it up to bring it to Shade. Crow asks the smithy how long it would take and how much it would cost to prepare the wyvern skin or scale as +1 armor. She responds that it take 10 weeks and cost 2000 gp. Brother is still waiting on shield from +1 to +2. Brother could borrow Shades old +1 shield.Snogmaul Peter D. They then visit the alchemist's shop to buy potions. These potions (very rare consumable) are available: flying 10,000 gp, cloud giant strength (27) 25,000 gp, invisibility 20,000 gp, and longevity 20,000 gp. None of the high power potions are purchased at this time. Normal healing potions are available and Ashlyn buys ten.Snogmaul Peter D. There are more people in town. Three Pace is full of people. We will, on our next trip to town, bring Small Boy some of the war troll armor. The three party members return to the Manor.Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes tells us that there was a dwarven clan on tier 43 or 23 called Clan Drachan, known dragon servants. That could be the Clan Drachan vault. The clan was known to be tight with dragons. Some people called the dwarves were called Dragon Servants. Some people also say that Clan Drachan was a myth.Snogmaul Peter D. Vargas is going to see the dragon, possibly black or copper. As he travels down the central shaft he notices that things are totally walled up. He is flying and invisible. He goes to the landing on tier 23. He gets to the point where he sees the damaged walls and the sealed the hallway and with a conjured wall of stone. Vargas slowly and carefully approaches the opening. He takes a knee and speaks as politely and requests conversation. The voice says, "You may pass but may not enter." Vargas stands at the opening and looks in. There is a dragon head but no body. The head is made of stone. The dragon head responds "None have entered." The room looks rough carved. Vargas can see nothing behind it. Vargas asks, "Are you a descendant of Io?" No response. The whole conversation is in draconic. Vargas says, "Is this the famed home of Clan Drachan?" It responds as before. It seems there are a limited number of responses that can be spoken by the stone head. Vargas returns to the Manor.Snogmaul Peter D. We take a big left turn and decide to go to the alchemist's shop in Undertower after a long rest. After some discussion we decide that the resources in the shop might be helpful in our assault of the Deep Cathedral. Maybe there are some helpful potions or other magic items. If nothing else we might find some tradeable items. Brother Lucius heals party members prior to the long rest with the intention that the long rest will be at max HP.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn casts pass without a trace when we are on our way down to the shop. When we arrive at the shop the clay golem is standing outside of the shop. Vargas casts haste on Crow. Snogmaul pulls a dire wolf from the Bag of Tricks and casts blur on himself. Crow readies an attack action which will happen when Crow is within range. Brother is going to attack with a fireball. Vargas will attack with chromatic orb. Snogmaul will fire when the golem gets within 80 feet using his short bow.Snogmaul Peter D. Shade casts eldritch blast and does 3 dmg and then 3 more dmg. Brother casts fire ball for half of 22, so 11 pts dmg. The golem charges to attack and moves 120, using move and dash. When the golem gets to the party it attacks and tries to attack Shade but misses. Crow did 17 pts dmg with two bow shots. Vargas' chromatic orb does 25 and 17. Snogmaul fires his bow once and misses. He drops the bow. Then the dire wolf moves in next to golem. Crow attacks five times, 1 crit, 3 reg hits, and 1 miss. 14, 14, 18 and 26 pts of damage. At this point, there is an explosion of acid as a result of a glyph on the chest going off. 32 pts of dmg for save and 16 pts for save to each character within 30 feet. Only Ashlyn was not in range. Brother hits the golem for 16 pts dmg with his spiritual weapon. The golem attacks Shade twice. Shade misses his save both time and he loses hp permanently until restoration. Shade uses riposte and hits it. Vargas prepares and lets loose a scorching ray using a fourth level spell slot and hits four times. Vargas does a total of 25 pts of dmg.Snogmaul Peter D. Snogmaul attacks with his hand crossbow and gets a sneak attack successfully. He does 24 pts of damage and the golem falls to the ground! Yeah!
Crow Mark W. @$%*ing kill stealer
Crow Mark W. Glyph 1: Level 5 spell
Crow Mark W. Glyph 2: spotted but no known level</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 3; can't see the glyph</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 4: Level 5 spell</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 5: Level 5 spell</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 6: fumble, Snogmaul triggers the trap, but evades the effect, some sort of paralysis - 2 potions of climbing</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 7; Level 5 spell</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 8: fumble Snogmaul triggers the trap but evades the effect, some sort of paralysis - 2 potions of fire breathing</p>
Crow Mark W. Disarm trap attempts</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 1: (29 disarms the Hold Monster spell) 3 potions of supreme healing</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 2: 2 potions of diminution (disarmed Hold Monster</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 4: disarms Hold Monster 2 potions of Gaseous Form</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 5: disarms something, 3 potions of Heroism</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 7: disarm Hold Monster, 2 potions of Vitality</p>
Crow Mark W. Glyph 3: blind disarm for 3 potions of Invisibility</p>
Snogmaul Peter D. experience: easy encounter .05, easy skill challenge .05, mod fight .10; total of .20; current level 9.85Session 25--2018.7.7- Kyle remote DM from Seattle
GM Kyle B. Orestes' deal was with the Dao princess Hal'annSnogmaul Peter D. options: (1) restore Shade's permanently lost hit points, 500 gp of diamond dust is required and a cleric's greater restoration spell (2) go straight to the underground Cathedral and assault it (3) is...Snogmaul Peter D. The party seems to be moving toward invading ASAP, option (2). The Dao, based on insight checks suggests, are slavers and will likely not take us hostage and make us slaves. The Dao might or might not break its promise; seems more likely she will follow through with the agreement we made with her; Dao are lawful evil. She obviously really wants to get the elemental ring back. Shade, Vargas, and Crow are carrying one potion of heroism each. Orestes, Lucius and Ashlyn are carrying one potion of supreme healing each. Snogmaul is carrying one potion of vitality.Snogmaul Peter D. Orestes is going to contact the Dao and tell her we are ready to have her do recon and then transport us to the Cathedral via the Earth Plane. But first we have to decide which area we are going to let the Dao fill in with earth or stone. A possibility is to fill in the area directly above where the duergar are mining now. We will inform the Dao once Orestes has input. We could also fill in some area near the current hobgoblin area.Snogmaul Peter D. A rumbling in the ground and an enormous hammer bursts forth from the ground and then the Princess Hal'ann shows up. She then asks if we are ready. We say yes and she disappears and is gone for 30 minutes. She says there are many, snakes, warriors, giants. Total count would be about 500, a battalion. The teleport room itself had more than 100. Hobgoblins with some spell ability as well as "snake" spellcaster. There were likely some trolls.GM Kyle B. Tyvalt Georg Marvad, spymaster in RomaSnogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn does a sending to "the spymaster." The sending likely contains info about the force that currently occupies the Cathedral. Ashlyn receives a response that House Marvad needs 4 days to prepare for the attack.Snogmaul Peter D. "Marvad willing to send troops to liberate deep cathedral. Can YOU negotiate to the pantheon's benefit? I and my compatriots will lead the charge." sending by Lucius to patron leader, Alina at Cathedral in Dark Ember.GM Kyle B. Response:"Dangerous to allow Marvad troops in. Prefer you control and negotiate access. If you can stop Marvad, Council of Thirty can help instead."GM Kyle B. New sending, to which Lucius can reply:Marvad troops? From where? What do you face in Deep Cathedral? I can get appropriate aid depending on what you face.Snogmaul Peter D. FYI: Council of Thirty is a group of thirty individuals that control Dark Ember, the Burning CityBr. Lucius Jim Y. Troops from Roma in 4 days, battalion of hobgoblins, squadron Gorgon, platoon war trolls, yuan-ti specialists, wizard able to magic jar & summon demonsBr. Lucius Jim Y. Snogmaul Peter D. The Princess says her forces could be here sooner than 4 days. She would want "things that are below." An entire tier, or two adjoining half tiers, below 30 in exchange for enough troops to win the battle. The tiers below 30 are chiefly mining levels. A history check results in Brother remembering that below 30 has lots of Adamantine (sp).Snogmaul Peter D. Tier 30-33 was rumored to have deep dwarves Clan Krogan, spoke 6, 7, 8; according to Orestes. Vargas says nothing below 40.GM Kyle B. New Sending from Alena: "No undead. No constructs. Limited spellcasting. Easy for Count Crimson or Iron Hand, but unacceptable. Best choice is Telx. It will cost. Need two days."Snogmaul Peter D. The Iron Hand is believed to be a lich and commands an undead army. Count Crimson is rumored to be a vampire but both would increase their undead armies. House Telx would have the ability to field mercs.Snogmaul Peter D. Lucius casts divination and asks "What advice can you give us with regards to the deal with the dao princess Hal'aan as to which two contiguous tiers between 33 and 40 would be the best choice?"GM Kyle B. Omen: You find yourself in front of a house, in a beautiful garden with a sundial. It is the first hour of the afternoon, according to the shadow on the dial. A woman is digging up root vegetables nearby and putting them in a basket. It is a good harvest. The basket is almost full of fat, healthy potatoes. Then she makes a disgusted noise, holding up a worm-eaten, diseased potato. "Pity. Three dozen will have to do," she mutters as she casts it aside and carefully fills in the hole she dug it from. Time passes quickly, and soon it is sunset.Snogmaul Peter D. The Dao agrees to our terms. She and her forces will kill all of the invaders from the Dawn Realm and we will give her possession of Tier 37 and 38 from Spoke 1 to Spoke 5.Snogmaul Peter D. Fliers (Orestes, Vargas, Crow, and Brother Lucius) are going down the central shaft. The remainders are staying at the Manor. Perception checks for those traveling; Crow gets 25 (duergar across the central shaft spot the fliers traveling). The four party members arrive at Tier 23 and find the doors have been smashed open and fire damage. But there are no bodies! There are a few entry rooms. Pews are knocked over. And there are some broken stone. The teleport circle is now filled with a column of stone. Orestes inspects the inside of the column and it is solid. Arcana tells us that those that can exist in stone can still use the teleportation circle while all other living creatures cannot.Snogmaul Peter D. While invisible Vargas flies back to the Manor with the broom. When he arrives he shouts out that he is invisible and then explains what is going on. Ashlyn asks if she can go up and inform Crass that the Dawn Realm force is out. She uses the broom to fly up to the surface. The upper tiers are still sealed off, but Ashlyn is allowed to pass. Crass questions Ashlyn as to how and what. She explains that the main force is gone but there may still be stragglers. Crass says that he already sent for help from the giants. Crass will try and retract the request using a "sending." Ashlyn goes with Crass to the Temple of All Faiths and sends the message to withdraw the request. It is successful. Ashlyn leaves two pp.Br. Lucius Jim Y. Lucius casts sending to Alena: "Deep Cathedral cleared, circle blocked by 30' tall, 10' diameter column of stone. Suspect will need to re-consecrate area. Assistance will be appreciated."Snogmaul Peter D. There is a second door to the Cathedral which would have been used by priests or church leaders. In the meantime, Orestes casts create stone to box in the main doors but leaving the doorway unaffected. Orestes and Lucius will use stone shape to alter the stone column that is on top of the circle over the next two days so that the circle is usable.Snogmaul Peter D. Ashlyn flies down to the Cathedral and finds the main door is sealed off. She then goes to the small entrance and does the "secret knock." Shade also flies down on the broom. The entire party is in the Cathedral except for Snogmaul who stayed in the Manor. The Cathedral is consecrated ground, which means fiends or undead may not enter, after Brother casts Hallow. All healing spells are at maximum effect as well as using "hit dice" to recover is at maximum.Br. Lucius Jim Y. Lucius modifies the Hallow to also exclude those from the Dawn RealmBr. Lucius Jim Y. Snogmaul Peter D. The Deep Cathredral is restored by priests and templars of the Olympian faith from Dark Ember. We gather Renown + 1 Burning City, +2 Tarrytown, +2 Adamant Mining. The duergar take advantage re-fortify what the Dawn Realm built. The duergar are on Tier 23, like us and the Cathredral. Ashlyn gets a sending 4 days later saying "We are ready," from the House Marvad. Ashlyn responds that Marvad should contact Alena (Brother's religious contact). After about a week, Alena shows up and indicates Brother should be Father Lucius, High Priest of the Deep Cathedral. And a ceremony is celebrated to make it so. The Cathedral is restored, the Circle is restored, and Vargas is able to memorize the circle and so he can use it.Snogmaul Peter D. .20 for major quest, .10 for quest completion, .05 for roleplay = Level 10.20; next session will be down time and work on the Estate