19980411 OutdoorAmbush

<H1> Ambushed Outdoors </H1>
<H2> Role Call </H2>
<TABLE>
<TR>
 <TH> Name </TH>
 <TH> Profession and Level </TH>
 <TH> Player </TH>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Kill'Dar </TD>
 <TD> 5th/5th Elf Fighter/Mage </TD>
 <TD> Rick DiRicco </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Kieran McTernan </TD>
 <TD> 4th/3rd Half-Elf Cleric/Mage </TD>
 <TD> Ray Chiang </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Prince Donner </TD>
 <TD> 5th Human Fighter </TD>
 <TD> John Speck </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Grackle </TD>
 <TD> 5th/5th Half-Elf Fighter/Thief </TD>
 <TD> Mark Whisler </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Colin </TD>
 <TD> 6th Human Fighter </TD>
 <TD> Jim Yonemura </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Ansrak </TD>
 <TD> 5th Human Thief </TD>
 <TD> Robert Giedt </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<H2> Session Summary </H2>
</p>
The party spends two weeks in Kennetar running errands. Colin manages to hire three bodyguards, while Donner brings a courier named Rolf.
Meanwhile, Kieran continues to do research about Blackvault:
*Blackvault was the hidden stronghold of Tenseval Taine, the foremost enchanter of his day at the chief counsellor for the last King of the West (Grithaniel, sometimes called Grith of the Four Swords).
*Kirean finds some private letters which mention Blackvault. The letters are from the time of the fall of Parthenel (the former capital of the Kingdom of the West and the current location of the City of the Ancients in the Grey Vales). The letters are an exchange between two merchants who dealt in rare extracts and materials. Apparently, Blackvault is likely near a small town called Dulax Moir in the foothills of the Parapets, on the Westmarch side of the mountain range.
*With a little more work, Kieran is able to find Dulax Moir on some old maps and makes a copy for the party.
*Related to the research. Kieran also finds the transcripts for the Trial of Tenseval Taine.
**Part of Taine's defense argument is that contacting demons was part of his royal research into the creation of a permanent planar gate.
**Taine was allowed to choose his manner of execution: poisoning.
**Taine was almost convicted of insanity, which was a crime in the Kingdom of the West at the time.
**Taine was given last rites by Morbios.
They eventually get a message from the Dwarves who express their concern about the Teeth. So, they decide to go back once again.</p>
Day One: They pass a group of ten dwarves.</p>
Day Two: Unfortunately, most of the party turns visible of the course of the day. They come up behind a party of large humanoids, but we choose to avoid them.</p>
Day Three: They see another large group of camouflaged humanoids (roughly 50). Again, we let them pass.</p>
That evening, the party camps outside the Teeth. During the evening, the shadow dragon, along with some minions, attack the party again. Unfortunately, the shadow dragon catches much of the party with a Confusion spell. In the ensuing ten rounds of chaos, the shadow dragon and his allies wound or scatter much of the party, knocks Kill'Dar and Ansrak unconscious, and captures Donner, Grackle and Rolf manage to fight theiry way free. Borgar (playing no risk, no reward) also manages to escape during the fighting. Thanks to the Confusion spell, Kieran stood still the entire combat, but escaped noticed thanks to being invisible even before combat started. Kieran sees that Ansrak is dead but manages to stabilize a dying Kill'Dar before fleeing.
By presenting the signet ring of Prince Jarod, Donner manages to occupy the shadow dragon's attention, convincing him that he has value as a hostage, while the remnants of the party flee the area.
Grackle uses the communication stone to contact Seledan and let him know about Donner's capture.
<H2> Foes Fought </H2>
<P>
1 Shadow Dragon<BR />5 Shadows<BR />1 Ogre Mage