20000506 DontLetSleepingDogs

<H1> Don't Let Sleeping Dogs Lie </H1>
<H2> Role Call </H2>
<TABLE>
<TR>
 <TD> Fingle Shimmerstone </TD>
 <TD> 3rd/7th Gnome Cleric/Wizard </TD>
 <TD> Richard Jacobsen </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Prince Donner </TD>
 <TD> 6th/5rd Human Fighter/Wizard </TD>
 <TD> John Speck </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Ashlun </TD>
 <TD> 7th Human Fighter </TD>
 <TD> Matt Miller </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Grackle </TD>
 <TD> 6th/5th Half-Elf Fighter/Rogue </TD>
 <TD> Mark Whisler </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Kill'Dar </TD>
 <TD> 9th/3rd Elf Wizard/Fighter </TD>
 <TD> Rick DiRicco </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Colin </TD>
 <TD> 12th Human Fighter </TD>
 <TD> Jim Yonemura </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Kieran </TD>
 <TD> 7th/4th Half-Elf Cleric/Wizard </TD>
 <TD> Ray Chiang </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Travian </TD>
 <TD> 8th Human Paladin </TD>
 <TD> Robert Giedt </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<H2> Prelude </H2>
<P>
<B>Guest Scribe:</B> Lucia (Celeste Young)
</P>
<P>
More time is spent making changes to match the latest news on the
Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition News website.
</P>
<P>
Character conversion accompanied by background Soul Calibur noises
(courtesy of Mr. Dean Tribble).
</P>
<P>
In the meantime, Matt has rolled up a temporary character. He then
proceeds to roll up a shitload of really good stuff, including +3 chain,
small +1 shield, a ring of regeneration, rod of alertness, oil of fiery
burning, +1 long sword (!).
</P>
<BR><P>
<H2> Session Summary </H2>
</p>
<P>
Fingle has enough xp from the last game to get to 8th Illusionist, but
is informed by Kyle that he can't use it yet.
</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Richard:</B> So when can we apply our experience?
<P>
<B>Kyle:</B> When you're in a safe place where you can rest and concentrate.
</P>
<P>
<B>John:</B> How about now?
</P>
<P>
<B>Kyle:</B> [tolerantly] Now you're in an embattled tower in the
 middle of a siege. 
</P>
<P>
[Pause]
<P>
<B>John:</B> How about now?
</P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
When we last left our heroes, the Black Lions had taken control of
the wall around the inner city, and was working through the forces
in the inner city. Many things are on fire, and the air hazy and
filled with the noises of battle. Donner's group has returned from
their battle at the Keep, and the interior of the Keep is on fire.
Ander is dead; Travian has acquired a (dead) head in a helmet. 
</P>
<P>
Grackle is instructed to continue to keep an eye on the Keep for as
long as his polymorph is still running. He's surveys the Keep in eagle
form, and briefly checks out the inner city which is in flames, but not
before begging for some healing. He can see two main groups of orcs
engaging the Aquitaine's forces, one from inside the inner city, and
the other harrying the outside troops as they are trying to make it
inside the inner city walls.
</P>
<P>
The vanguard of the Aquitainian troops arrives. Prince Donner issues
somewhat garbled instructions to the fighters to send archers up on
the walls to help the Lions and post infantry to guard the ladders
going up the walls. The rest of the heavy infantry is sent into the
thick of the fighting to help the Black Lions.
</P>
<P>
Prince Donner's group tries to decide whether to rest for 8 hours,
help the Black Lions fight the orcs (and clear the inner city), or
heal up as much as possible and return to finish the job at the Keep.
Additionally, it's critical that the Aquitainian troops make it into
the inner city and the gate closes behind them safely.
</P>
<P>
Hagal has seen Prince Donner's group return from the Keep toting a
dead body and obviously tired; he dispatches one of his best fighters,
Ashlun, to help the party. Ashlun shows up healed to full, and Prince
Donner eyes his, um, endowments.
</P>
<P>
The message from Hagal is that the worst is over. They're slogging
through orogs (not easy), but they're making slow progress. What's
going on inside the Keep? Take Ashlun, he's the best I have. 
</P>
<P>
Democratically (i.e. with only a bit of arguing), the group decides
to go back to the Keep. (Kill-Dar loses the vote). Kieran is left
behind to supervise the closing of the gate (particularly since we
don't know which spells he has left). Travian takes this moment to
examine his trophy head. The helmet is magic, but not evil or good.
It's former bearer had more than just orc, um, blood, running in his
veins.
</P>
<P>
As the party takes one last look at the battle in the inner city,
the gatehouse seems secure, the archers on the walls are a bit unsure
of where to fire, and the orcs outside the wall are starting to fall
back. After about 20 minutes, 500-800 troops still need to make it
through the gate. The fighting line seems a bit more ragged, but
it's really hard to see through the smoke. 
</P>
<P>
Donner dispatches Colin (with Fingle driving the carpet) to issue
commands to the Aquitainian forces. The fighting is chaotic, but
Colin attempts to get the cavalry to pull back behind the gate so
they can sally forth from the gate when needed. The cavalry fighters
ask for infantry reinforcements to take their place, so gained
ground won't be lost. Fingle notes that he doesn't see any orog
commanders while flying around. (They are known as a stupid,
fight-until-death race (unlike orcs who will flee when they know
they're outmatched)). Fingle drops a monster summoning near someone
who looks somewhat responsible in hopes of confusing their ranks.
</P>
<P>
In the confusion, they managed to locate the heavy infantry. They
seem to be fighting well-still stacked deep-not as strong as the
Black Lions, but holding. Colin asks the infantry to send
reinforcements to the cavalry, and they ask for some archery cover.
[Joking references to a computer puzzle game are now confirmed.
John kicks himself for mentioning it.] Colin and Fingle manage to
find a group of archers, and send them off to help the infantry.
In general, Colin seems better at issuing orders to the troops than
the Prince. (This is not surprising; even the King is known to have
a military commander to help him.)
</P>
<P>
The party figures out how to get everyone to the Keep over the
fighting. Travian, Donner, Grackle, and Fingle take the carpet and
look around for a safe landing. Grackle and Fingle are dropped near
the dead zone (out of line of sight of the Keep) and hide. The
others arrive without incident.
</P>
<P>
The Keep's wall is about 15 feet think, 40 feet tall and protected
by glyphs (as demonstrated when they first assaulted). The inviting
garden area around the wall is actually a kill zone designed to help
defend the Keep from external attacks. 
</P>
<P>
Fingle goes up closer to the wall of the keep to see if the glyph
where they last entered has been replaced. As he nears, two arrows
go whizzing by. Fingle is able to spot where the shots are coming
from. The glyph has not been replaced, and as he waits there,
another round of arrows (more than two shots) come by him. One
nicks his arm for small damage. Fingle sees three different
active arrow slits, two slits on the second floor and one on the
third. There are approx four stories of arrow slits. 
</P>
<P>
They decide to send Grackle in to take a look at who or what
(structurally) is inside the wall.
</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
<B>John:</B> So what I really want to do it toodle around inside that
 manor and kill things.
</P>
<P>
<B>Rick:</B> Are you saying that as the prince or are your fingers up
 [Ed: indicating out-of-character speech]?
</P>
<P>
<B>John:</B> Uh, let me think about this.
</P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Grackle, Fingle, and Ashlun go straight up on the carpet to take a
look at the manor. Grackle drives the carpet while Fingle throws up
a silent image of a column of smoke to disguise their recon. Smoke
from fires covers most of the area. Fingle sees three giants (one has
two heads). Two of them appear to be cradling bow-related weapons (one
of them is the two-headed giant), and the third is holding a handful
of what appears to be shot (probably cannonballs at this distance).
The giants look bigger than ettins (about 20 feet tall). They're
concentrating and scanning above the walls, but their vision is
occluded by drifting smoke clouds. All three are standing in front
of the entrance to the manor. There are clear holes (from burning)
in the manor roof. 
</P>
<P>
Most of the smoke is coming from the manor and the pile of fitted
rock. Grackle takes the carpet clockwise around the Keep, trying to
keep the giants on the other side of the handy drifting smoke clouds.
The recon group flies over the inner city (to stay clear of the
Keep) and an arrow whistles by-a stray group of orogs on a rooftop
has spotted the group and is firing. No one is hurt.
</P>
<P>
As they approach the Keep again, the group sees similar information
to what they saw earlier. There's another giant (possibly part of the
same group seen before) in front of the manor cradling one of the
arrow-like weapons. The top floor of the wall of the Keep isn't
enclosed; it looks crenellated but there is a gap between the roof
and the sides of the wall, and the roof has burned off in areas.
The floor is solid. Orogs are bustling around on the ground and
appear to be working hard. 
</P>
<P>
While they scouting is going on, a group of orogs stumbles across the
ground team. It's not pretty. [off-screen sounds of orogs exploding]
Prince Donner checks for valuables, and grabs a large wooden shield.
</P>
<P>
When the recon party returns, the group decides to take the Keep
gatehouse and open the gate to get Black Lions through (much as
they did with the inner city). The plan: fly over the top floor of
wall where the glyph was cleared, head to gatehouse, and try to open
the gates. Theoretically the party can deal with the known mechanical
traps in the gate tower. One difficulty will be avoiding the armed
giants.
</P>
<P>
Colin and Fingle fly back to let the Black Lion commander know that
we're going to need their help with the Keep gatehouse. As they're
flying over the city, arrows fly towards the carpet from groups of
orogs moving through the streets (approx a dozen stragglers). As
they get closer to the front lines, Kill-Dar is hit by an arrow.
They find Hagal in the back lines, and report on their plans for the
Keep. Hagal is reluctant to send troops in towards the Keep because
the Black Lions' control of the wall is tenuous in spots, critical
to keeping the outside orc troops from overrunning the inner city,
and they are being assaulted by orogs from inside the city. It's
critical that they secure the city by nightfall, or they will lose
the city.
</P>
<P>
They fly to talk to Keiran, and he tells the group that he's been
using the cavalry to demoralize the orcs when they press too close
to the wall. He points out that he hasn't seen any spellcasters in
the fight, and warns that they may all be holed up in the Keep. His
hypothesis is that the lumpy building (inside the Keep) is some
kind of temple. On the way back to the group, Colin is hit by an
arrow. 
</P>
<P>
Grackle heads into the Keep for some more recon. He takes the +3 ring
of protection, goes invisible (improved inviso), takes into gaseous
form, and seeps in through an arrow slit. He seeps over an orog (ew),
and sees orogs at every arrow slit. This level of the wall has a
heavy wooden ceiling. He heads for the courtyard and sees three war
trolls standing around a small group of three unarmored orogs loaded
with totems. One of them is old, armored, permanently scowling and is
drawing something with his finger on the wall with what appears like
blood. He's got a totem of All-Seeing Gruumsh.
</P>
<P>
Grackle briefly considers sneak attacking the shaman. Grackle notes
that it's taking the orog a long time to draw the glyph, which seems
strange given that he knows it shouldn't take long to draw a glyph.
Grackle heads past the group (which includes a few orogs that seem
specially outfitted in armor) and sees another group of three orogs
ambling towards him, seemingly interested in the glyph setting.
</P>
<P>
He can see the main courtyard, and notes four giants. Two have two
heads (the ones with one head are bigger). One of each type has a
ballista, the other has handfuls of rocks/shot. There is miscellaneous
dismantled rock-throwing equipment in the area. The
"barracks" opposite the "temple" doesn't have
visible guards around it. There is a lot of commotion in the Keep,
and people are running towards the manor with buckets of water. Four
orogs in front of the manor are watching the activity. Grackle can
see people posted at regular intervals along the walls.
</P>
<P>
Grackle passes the gate tower and doesn't see an entrance from the
courtyard. He continued to the barracks, keeping careful watch on the
giants. They are keeping their attention focused on the skies. The
barracks are dark inside (he looks through an arrow slit). Grackle
continues towards the manor, and notes a lot of orogs going into and
out of the manor. However, none of the other buildings have people
going into or out of them, and none of them is guarded. Orogs are
carrying water into the manor, and debris out. 
</P>
<P>
Grackle goes gaseous and goes inside the manor without incident.
In the main foyer, orogs are heading up a grand staircase. The foyer
leads into a main receiving hall, and has side doors. Behind the
main staircase is another staircase leading down, which Grackle
takes. At the bottom of the stairs is a war troll, confirming his
suspicion that they have been placed at key points in the Keep. 
</P>
<P>
Now underground in what was once a cellar area, Grackle sees a
doorway that might have led to a wine cellar as well as two new
passageways leading away from this area. The wine cellar looks
like it's been ransacked. The orogs moving throught his area look
like they're changing guard and are on the alert.
</P>
<P>
Grackle follows the tunnel towards the Keep gate, and comes to a
T. Posted there is one war troll, two orogs with totems, and two
specially outfitted orogs. Traffic is only going to the left
(towards the barracks). Grackle heads to the right, and is sure
that he's no longer under the manor. He comes to a door that has
a defaced lightning bolt design. A Twisted Eye design has been
scrawled over it. Behind the door he hears heavy breathing, and
beast noises from multiple throats. He smells sulfur and brimstone.
</P>
<P>
He heads back down the other corridor towards the barracks, gets
jostled, and goes gaseous before anyone can hit him. He leaves a
growing commotion behind him. The passage opens into a room with a
war troll guarding, stairs going up, and a door on the other side.
There are barrels for liquid, dry goods (probably food), and weapon
racks. Through the door is another hallway continuing in the same
direction. He starts heading up the stairs and hears a huge orog
commotion upstairs. He goes gaseous and heads up. There's a central
barracks area, and a hallway around the area that features arrow
slits facing into the room and out of the building. (Thus explaining
the silence when he first peered into the building from the outside.)
</P>
<P>
He leaves the building through an arrow slit, reassumes his normal
form, and heads back towards the wall where he came in. As he
approaches where the shaman was, everyone is focused on the wall.
Some horrible being is straining out of the wall towards the
shaman, but is restrained by the glyph. Light seems to fade
strangely around the tall, gangly, twisted being. The shaman seems
to be negotiating or bargaining with the thing, and everyone
around is staring with slack-jaws. Grackle heads for another arrow
slit, and seems to see the strange beast looking towards him.
</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
<B>Rick:</B> It's like I'm at the movies and I can't shout at the screen!
</P>
<P>
<B>Celeste:</B> I'm going to throw up in a second if nothing happens.
</P>
<P>
<B>John:</B> How tough could Demogorgon be under 3e rules?
</P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Grackle returns to the party without further incident. Richard rolls
a 45 in spellcraft. This is checked and amended to 33. It's agreed
that that was a planar ally, and people can only talk to demons from
similar planar alignments. Planar allies can only be brought to
fulfill one job-it's sent by your God from his plane to help you,
so won't necessarily turn on whoever summons it. 
</P>
<P>
Grackle reports on his recon, and suggests that there are tunnel
leading from the Keep into the city. While the party is debating
on what to do, Colin sneaks off with Ashlun and confirms that the
wall is now magic (where is wasn't before), and now evil.
</P>
<P>
Kill'Dar gets on the bug with invisibility, heads towards the
previous entry spot, and casts detect magic on the wall area. His
spell confirms what Colin and Ashlan reported. He goes 80 feet in
the air and looks down at the wall-and sees nothing (there's a ton
of smoke just hanging over the Keep). Kill'Dar keeps circling the
keep, but can't see anything. He eventually decides to fire towards
where Grackle said the manor roof was burned through. One fireball
goes through the roof of the manor, and the other goes into the
square where the giants were. The group confirms that it's him when
he returns to the group, and looks nervously behind him for signs
of any pursuing extra-dimensional beasts.
</P>
<H2> Highlights of the Evening </H2>
<P>
"I shall call him, mini-Ray" - by Robert on Mark, as Mark ruled before
the information was actually checked.
</P>
<P>
GM's quote of the night: "I'll tell you when I'm listening again."
</P>
<H2> Foes Fought </H2>
<P></P>
<P>
Base Experience: 
</P>