6 November, 595
Part II
The unconscious bodies of Felian, Baxtor, and Serro are dragged back to the surface, and are taken to St. Cuthbert for healing. The coffers of the party are emptied, as the group is healed from the devastating combat.
The group attempts to sell some of the treasures they found at Tygot's Old Things, an antiquity shop run by an old gnome with a large blind dog. The crotchety old Tygot agrees to buy some items but sends the group to the jewelrers to sell off the rest of their valuables.
Next the party pays a visit to Skies' Treasury, a boutique that specializes in the sale of all things of a magical nature. Skie is very talkative, and introduces herself as a former adventurer herself. She offers to identify some items the group has but alas they cannot afford to pay her prices at the moment. A few healing potions are purchased, and it is back to Keygan's shop for a meal, then into the Malachite Fortress.
Arriving at the scene of the former battle, the party notices that all of the dead bodies have been dragged out, including Fario's. Felian is upset at this and insists they follow the trail of blood. Kyladrian sneaks into a room with a large hearth and forge tools. Inside he spots a dwarf, 2 halflings, and 3 goblins toiling away on hammering something. He also notices several hobgoblins standing watch, but they do not spot him.
The group decides that the bodies may have been dragged this way, but they should find a different way around. Another door is opened to reveal a bedroom, occupied by a large shackled chest and 2 fleshy human-shaped blobs, who move towards Salla when he tries to enter. Salla quickly closes the door and the group moves on.
Inside a set of double doors, the group witnesses a bulky five-foot humanoid dressed in black plate mail doing some sort of business with an ashy-skinned dwarf holding a box of coins. The armored fellow is holding a large axe in one hand and the chain of a collared boy in the other. Behind him menaces a large bestial hound with quills protruding from its body. In the back of the room juts a pole, to which 3 other children are tethered to.
The man notices the party as they enter and ask who they are and why did they destroy his hobgoblin army. Once he explains he is trying to conduct a business transaction Baxtor asks how much money he wants for the children, the dwarf-like creature (named Pyllrak) protests but the other man (revealed as Kazmojen) tells them he'll let them go for 450 gold pieces. Baxtor refuses, and Kaz quickly orders his pet Prickles to attack. Howling gleefully, the beast moves forward to charge at Felian, barreling into the cleric and leaving quills sticking from his armor. Kaz pulls out a hand axe and hurls it at the group, while Pyllrak disappears into thin air. During the melee some hear the doors behind them open and close. The battle is long and drawn-out. At some point Serro slashes Kaz across the chest, knocking the wind out of him and allowing others to press the advantage. Unfortunately, Kaz's wounds seem to be closing up on themselves and healing at an uncanny rate. Towards the end, only Salla and Serro are left standing. But Serro delivers a finishing blow to Prickles, and Salla's axe brings the armored fiend to his knees. As Salla and Serro take turns hacking at the body, they are horrified to see it healing before their very eyes. In a fury, Salla uses his axe to hack off the head of Kazmojen, and the body stops repairing itself. The children are heard whimpering in the corner.
As the party is regrouping and tending to its wounds, a large floating orb appears with a giant central eye and gaping mouth, and several other eyes on stalks protruding from the top appears from nowhere and announces its intentions to take Terrem, one of the kidnapped kids. It says that it will return him to the orphanage and they can do with the others as they choose. Baxtor casts a spell and determines that the creature is immensely evil. He communicates this to the group, and Salla picks up a throwing axe and hurls it at the monster. One of the eye stalks shoots a beam of energy at Sallas and a momentary feeling of fear passes over him before he can shake it off. At that moment the floating orb vanishes, along with one of the children.
The other children are returned to the orphange, and the party discovers that prior to their arrival, a veiled woman returned Terrem to the orphange. Baxtor finds this a bit suspicious, but Gretchen, the headmistress is just relieved to have all of the children back safe and sound. A visit is paid to St. Cuthbert, where everyone is healed and Jenya meets with the party. After hearing their story, she rewards them with the promised gold and commends them for the brave job they have done. She also asks if there are still prisoners being held below, and they believe there are still some alive. Felian wants to go back anyway to make another attempt at recovering Fario's body.
The party reequips itself, drops some items off at Skies for identification, and prepares for another underground foray.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Hobgoblins!
6 November, 595
Part I
The night passes uneventfully, and the room in which they slept is found to hide 2 secret doors. One is opened, leading into a large room dimly lit with glowing braziers. The braziers are carved in the shape of small ovoid creatures, with gaping mouths opened wide at the top, and musky smoke issuing forth. There is also a large statue with black shiny gems for eyes, leaning on a double-handed axe, and looking toward a set of double doors barred shut. The statue is bound with a mass of iron chains, ending in spikes, blades, and sharp hooks. Another set of double doors are seen on the opposite side.
Stepping into the room, Salla is ambushed by a quartet of hobgoblins, each wielding double-handed axes. The group retreats into the previous room, hoping to catch the hobgoblins at a tactical advantage. It doesn't take long to kill off the creatures. At some point, Salla downs the potion in the fungi flask.
Taking a closer look at the statue, Salla believes it to be the likeness of Zenith Splintershield, a legendary dwarf who set off several years back to launch a crusade against the denizens of the Underdark. He has not been heard from since. A debate ensues on which door to explore, the barred door presumed to lead toward this "Underdark", or the opposite door, which Felian reminds the group most likely leads toward their objective, to save the kidnapped children. The unbarred door is chosen.
This leads to a dark room. Baxtor waves his mace noisely around the edge of the door, and an alarm is raised on the other side of the room. A goblin voice shouts "Intruders!" and 2 hobgoblins rush forward, firing arrows into the room with the statue of Zenith. The party rushes forward to engage the hobgoblins, just as 4 more come rushing around the corner to fight. One heads back toward the other side of the room, but Kyladrian bravely charges forward to cut off his escape. It looked like he was going for a lever mounted on the far side of the room. Wave after wave of hobgoblins appear and the group is challenged to kill them at the same rate that they are arriving. During the melee, an axe cleaves through Fario's head, and he is slain. A final quartet of hobbies arrive, this one led by a large one-armed ebon-skinned hobgoblin, barking attack orders to his mates. The battle continues and Baxtor attempts to drag an unconscious Felian into the "Zenith" room, but is cut down by a charging enemy. The party retreats back into the previous room, and attempt to make a last stand against their foes. Serro also goes down to the vicious sowrd of "one-arm" and all that are left are Salla, Karnak, and Kyladrian to match up with 3 opponents. Finally, the trio dispatch of the lackeys and deal "one-arm" several staggering blows. The hobgoblin falls dramatically face first to the ground, spilling blood and teeth at their feet. In the moment that follows there is silence, apart from the heavy breathing of the victors.
The wounded and fallen are dragged into the room, and it is found that only Fario has perished, whereas the rest remain alive but unconscious. In all, they had killed over a score of hobgoblins, but the cost was dear, as one of their greatest warriors had paid the ultimate price.
It is a grim start to the morning.
Part I
The night passes uneventfully, and the room in which they slept is found to hide 2 secret doors. One is opened, leading into a large room dimly lit with glowing braziers. The braziers are carved in the shape of small ovoid creatures, with gaping mouths opened wide at the top, and musky smoke issuing forth. There is also a large statue with black shiny gems for eyes, leaning on a double-handed axe, and looking toward a set of double doors barred shut. The statue is bound with a mass of iron chains, ending in spikes, blades, and sharp hooks. Another set of double doors are seen on the opposite side.
Stepping into the room, Salla is ambushed by a quartet of hobgoblins, each wielding double-handed axes. The group retreats into the previous room, hoping to catch the hobgoblins at a tactical advantage. It doesn't take long to kill off the creatures. At some point, Salla downs the potion in the fungi flask.
Taking a closer look at the statue, Salla believes it to be the likeness of Zenith Splintershield, a legendary dwarf who set off several years back to launch a crusade against the denizens of the Underdark. He has not been heard from since. A debate ensues on which door to explore, the barred door presumed to lead toward this "Underdark", or the opposite door, which Felian reminds the group most likely leads toward their objective, to save the kidnapped children. The unbarred door is chosen.
This leads to a dark room. Baxtor waves his mace noisely around the edge of the door, and an alarm is raised on the other side of the room. A goblin voice shouts "Intruders!" and 2 hobgoblins rush forward, firing arrows into the room with the statue of Zenith. The party rushes forward to engage the hobgoblins, just as 4 more come rushing around the corner to fight. One heads back toward the other side of the room, but Kyladrian bravely charges forward to cut off his escape. It looked like he was going for a lever mounted on the far side of the room. Wave after wave of hobgoblins appear and the group is challenged to kill them at the same rate that they are arriving. During the melee, an axe cleaves through Fario's head, and he is slain. A final quartet of hobbies arrive, this one led by a large one-armed ebon-skinned hobgoblin, barking attack orders to his mates. The battle continues and Baxtor attempts to drag an unconscious Felian into the "Zenith" room, but is cut down by a charging enemy. The party retreats back into the previous room, and attempt to make a last stand against their foes. Serro also goes down to the vicious sowrd of "one-arm" and all that are left are Salla, Karnak, and Kyladrian to match up with 3 opponents. Finally, the trio dispatch of the lackeys and deal "one-arm" several staggering blows. The hobgoblin falls dramatically face first to the ground, spilling blood and teeth at their feet. In the moment that follows there is silence, apart from the heavy breathing of the victors.
The wounded and fallen are dragged into the room, and it is found that only Fario has perished, whereas the rest remain alive but unconscious. In all, they had killed over a score of hobgoblins, but the cost was dear, as one of their greatest warriors had paid the ultimate price.
It is a grim start to the morning.
The Malachite Fortress
5 November, 595
Part III
Thinking a bit about how he came to be where he was found, Serro recalls that at some point he had been taken up in an elevator before he was rescued. Retracing their steps, the group returns to the room in which he was found. A thorough search of the room reveals nothing new, but Felian descovers that one of the chests they had opened has a false bottom. Salla investigates further and finds it to contain a fine silver bracelet, 3 citrines, a vial containing a sparkling dusty substance, and an empty bag.
Backing up to the staircase leading to Keygan's shop, the group pursues the secret passageway they had found earlier, and are led to a room containing a wooden platform connected to chains and a series of pulleys. A nearby lever is triggered and the platform descends 200 feet into the depths of the earth. Along the way, the stone walls turn to black malachite; they are certainly in a different part of the ruins now.
At the bottom level, a door opens into a room with 2 hanging iron cages, and a stone sculpture planted in the middle between the cages. The stone figure is amorphously arrayed with sharp appendages protruding outward, ending in shards of crystal. After the first cage is investigated and found to be empty, Baxtor approaches the stone spike. It immediately springs to life and plods toward the priest of Kord. The rest of the group move forward and engage the animated block of stone, breaking off chunks until it no longer moves. Salla makes sure the thing is dead by using his axe to chop it into several tiny pieces.
Not much later, a large brutish humanoid emerges from a door, carrying a large filthy falchion. He takes a look at the heroes and rejoices about having more food for his larder. Waving his sword around viciously, he charges at the party. A fierce melee ensues and many in the group suffer grievous wounds before the ogrish creature is brought down. Salla takes a peek in his "larder" and finds an iron chest among the dung heaps. Inside is 2000 silver pieces, 2 deep green spinel gems, and a flask made from dried fungi containing what Baxtor guesses is a powerful healing potion.
The group decides to camp out for the rest of the evening, keeping watches in the dark.
Part III
Thinking a bit about how he came to be where he was found, Serro recalls that at some point he had been taken up in an elevator before he was rescued. Retracing their steps, the group returns to the room in which he was found. A thorough search of the room reveals nothing new, but Felian descovers that one of the chests they had opened has a false bottom. Salla investigates further and finds it to contain a fine silver bracelet, 3 citrines, a vial containing a sparkling dusty substance, and an empty bag.
Backing up to the staircase leading to Keygan's shop, the group pursues the secret passageway they had found earlier, and are led to a room containing a wooden platform connected to chains and a series of pulleys. A nearby lever is triggered and the platform descends 200 feet into the depths of the earth. Along the way, the stone walls turn to black malachite; they are certainly in a different part of the ruins now.
At the bottom level, a door opens into a room with 2 hanging iron cages, and a stone sculpture planted in the middle between the cages. The stone figure is amorphously arrayed with sharp appendages protruding outward, ending in shards of crystal. After the first cage is investigated and found to be empty, Baxtor approaches the stone spike. It immediately springs to life and plods toward the priest of Kord. The rest of the group move forward and engage the animated block of stone, breaking off chunks until it no longer moves. Salla makes sure the thing is dead by using his axe to chop it into several tiny pieces.
Not much later, a large brutish humanoid emerges from a door, carrying a large filthy falchion. He takes a look at the heroes and rejoices about having more food for his larder. Waving his sword around viciously, he charges at the party. A fierce melee ensues and many in the group suffer grievous wounds before the ogrish creature is brought down. Salla takes a peek in his "larder" and finds an iron chest among the dung heaps. Inside is 2000 silver pieces, 2 deep green spinel gems, and a flask made from dried fungi containing what Baxtor guesses is a powerful healing potion.
The group decides to camp out for the rest of the evening, keeping watches in the dark.
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