The Demonskar Ball

1 December, 595

The day of the ball arrives. Serro wakes up fully recovered from his sickness. However, Baxtor is still ailing and seems to be getting worse and worse. He decides to seek out a cure from the temple, but the marks and lesions from the disease are still apparent, even when the blight is removed. Fortunately, the skin disfigurements go well with the demon costume he has chosen for the party, and no one will notice. Alastriel attempts to cram in some last minute etiquette training and gets an offer from a serving wench named Molly to teach her everything she knows for 2 coppers. Alastriel passes but gives her the money anyway.

The party is picked up by their coach and taken to the gala at the Coy Nixie. Sonja dresses as Alastriel's servant, and is admitted to the event without a ticket. She is continuously mistaken for a servant throughout the rest of the evening.

To start the evening, the Lords of Chaos mingle a bit with the guests. Lord Vhalantru is amiable and introduces them to a noble visiting from Sasserine, the beautiful Celeste. They converse about the dilemma of funding in the city, and why the city is hard pressed to both spend money to repair damages from recent events and equip the town guard at the same time. Vhalantru also talks about what the party can expect from the evening, and warns them to watch out for the Stormblades, as they seem to have grown jealous from the group's rising popularity.

Serro starts up a conversation with Izzy Brambleshade, the reporter for the Cauldron Chronicle. She conducts a quick interview on the spot, and asks some very pointed questions about some of the dangers they may have left unattended in the city. She ends with asking which member of the Stormblades has inspired them the most, to which they simply answer: none.

The party files into the ballroom and gets to meet the patrons. The hosts of the party, Lady Margaret and Lord Zachary Aslaxin I seem enthused to meet the heroes, but their enthusiasm seems a bit tempered when their guests fail to use the correct protocol in greeting the hosts. Zachary II is there to gloat and take the opportunity to bad mouth the party.

Lord Mayor Severen Navalant is offended as the party corrects him when he thanks them for their help assisting the town guard with their rescue of the missing children and retrieving the wands. He implies that they should move on to a different city now that they have made Cauldron safe. So far, not a very good impression with the nobles.

Embril Aloustinai is the High Priestess of Wee Jas, and she compliments the party, flirting a bit with Serro.

Asfelkir Hranleurt, the head of the Temple of Lordly Might, appears to ridicule Baxtor and compare him to his new favorite cleric, Zachary Aslaxin II. Then he laughs and slaps Baxtor on the back. The warrior priest is not sure what to think of this exchange, though it does seem that he has been avoiding his god's temple of late, preferring to frequent the Temple of St. Cuthbert instead.

Lord Alek Tercival is a paladin of St. Cuthbert, and expresses regret that he was not able to help the Lords of Chaos save Sarcem and retrieve the wands. He expresses his admiration of Jenya, and how she took command dutifully. He and Serro seem to hit it off pretty well.

Next is the Song of Heaven dance, in which Serro competes against Annah Taskerhill for the honor of portraying Nidrama in the final dance of the evening. The song is very difficult, and both performers have some trouble getting through it without making mistakes. There is a playoff, and Annah is deemed the winner by Professor Palendor, though it is not clear that she performed that much better than Serro.

In the meantime, the guests participate in a simple dance designed to help the guests mingle with each other. Kyladrian somehow trips and leaves the dance ring in anger, infuriating his temporary dance partner. Cora Lathenmire gets in on the action, stepping on Sonja's robe and ripping it clear off. Sonja runs out in embarrassment and Alastriel has to talk her into going back in.

The next event is Kozomagon's Folly. The dancers are partnered up and attempt to perform the difficult dance. Essentially, everyone in the party blunders through the dance and makes a fool out of themselves, with the exception of Alastriel. Unfortunately, she chooses Asfelkir for a partner, who seems to have two left feet. Needless to say, none of the Lords of Chaos end up as the honorary title of Mayor of the Haunted Village for this dance competition.

The party finds their assigned seats at a table shared with several other quirky guests. Bolar Westkey is a gnome who owns the Map Emporium. He makes friends with Serro when the two share fond memories of Keygan. He also seems to be interested in hearing about their relationship with Skie. Dalam Bandershield is a half-orc who starts out the night with very polished and refined manners, but seems to get more uncouth as the night gets on and he drinks more. Geneth Taliwar is an old dwarf who supplies the Aslaxins with art and furniture. He seems to warm up to Kyladrian when the two share their disklike of the Last Laugh. Votimax Weer is an retired wizard who now is obsessed with alchemy. He is dismissive of the group and even insults Alastriel by implying that she could never possibly understand alchemy being that she is a femalel. Finally, Gwendolyn and Sebastian Bradly-Dipinshire are pompous nobles related to Margaret Aslaxin. They critique and harp on every etiquette-related mistake the group makes. And there is certainly enough ammunition for them during the evening (with the exception of Baxtor who is the only one who appears to have learned anything from the few etiquette lessons he took).

After the dips are served, a toast is made (a drink called the Bubbling Cauldron, which is very alcoholic) by Zachary Aslaxin I to the heroes of Cauldron, both the Stormblades, and the Lords of Chaos. The second course is soup, and the tables are given 10 minutes to solve 10 riddles. Unfortunately, our heroes' table is not able to solve enough to win the contest.

The main course is brought out, a gigantic roast pig carried by 6 six servants. One of the servants collapses under the weight, but the platter is caught by Alek Tercival, who saves the day by carrying the entire plate by himself over to the serving table. Dalam claims that he could have done that easily, and challenges anyone at the table to a contest of strength. He leaves the table but comes back, realizing that noone is following him. He simmers and complains about the weaklings at the table.

Dessert is brought out, and while it is being served, the Stormblades come over to taunt the party. They leave soon enough, but after the pie is eaten, the entire table starts to feel a bit sick and not so mobile. Lady Aslaxin serves the guest with her special Crator Cake. Dalam explains that it made him sick last year, and the rest of the nobles and merchants at the table agree that it was not so good. But they eat it anyway, and it turns out to be pretty good. Lady Aslaxin comes by to see how people enjoyed it, and Dalam uses the opportunity to start a bragging competition with Vortimax the wizard in front of the host. Lady Aslaxin is amused and declares Dalam the winner.

After dinner is the Clash of the Armies, a dance in which each participant attempts to trip up their partner in a series of dance moves. Each of the Lords of Chaos is paired up with a Stormblade, except for Serro, who dances with Izzy. Serro easily wins over Izzy, after mesmerizing her with his voice. Annah Taskerhill does the same to triumph over Kyladrian. Zachary appears to let Sonja take him down a few times. Cora gets the best of Salla, and Todd has the slight edge over Alastriel, though she attempts to charm him with a spell during the dance.

The final dance involves Baxtor, disguised as the head demon Nabthataron, and Lord Aslaxin, who portrays the founder of Cauldron, Sundabar Spellmason. The two engage in a complicated series of dance moves (which Baxtor totally bungles) and act out the battle between the demon and the warrior wizard. As Nabathataron closes in for the win, Annah appears (dressed as the angel Nidrama) and presents Alakast to Sundabar, the legendary staff which helped to defeat the demonic hordes and lead him to victory. The battle is played out and Nabthataron is defeated, to the applause of the guests. After the dance, Baxtor's identity is revealed and he is given a cordial applause, despite his awkward performance.

Afterward the Lord Mayor says a few words in closing the ball, and presents both the Stormblades and the Lords of Chaos with the Star of Valor, medals of high prestige given to important heroes of Cauldron.

The guests disperse and the Demonskar Ball comes to an end.

Down time

29-30 November, 595

As the party takes a few days to recuperate before the ball, Baxtor and Serro discover that they've contracted some disease from fighting in the ruins. Alastriel studies some of the scrolls she found in the complex and learns that the ruins were inhabited by an ancient cruel race called the kopru. She reads a little about the history of the kopru influence in the region.

The Heroes of Cauldron Triumphant

29 November, 595

The next day the group prepares for a final descent into the ruins. The books are taken to a bookseller and he is asked to commission a sale for the rare tomes. Some other quick items are taken care of, and then it's back down to find one more wand.

The party approaches the cavern with the zombies, and Baxtor casts a silence spell amongst them, which proves in the end to be beneficial. After a fire sphere from Alastriel, the zombies are provoked to attack. Salla and Alastriel jump first into melee, while Alastriel and Serro provide the artillery. As they move closer into combat, they notice an undead-ish gnoll in the cavern beyond, doing some sort of spell-casting.

When a few of the zombies drop, the gnoll springs into action, first attacking Baxtor, and then Serro. Baxtor tries to turn him unsuccessfully. Alastriel's offensive spells have an effect on the creature, but poor Salla cannot damage him with his axe. Serro, on the otherhand, has some success. But the little guy is paying the price as he is hit with blow after blow from a spiked chain wired into the decayed flesh of the gnoll's arm. Sonja bravely hacks away at the remaining zombies, who grope at her mindlessly, intent on devouring her brains.

Serro's sword ends the unlife of the creature, and the unholy aura of the room is eradicated. Moving to the next room, the group finds another of the wands.

Taking the wand out of the ruins and to the temple of Cuthbert, Jenya greets them with eager anticipation. She asks Baxtor if he will take the wand and immediately join the other clerics in attempting to stave off the flood. Working through the night, the ‘tide’ is finally turned, and the flooding waters begin to recede back into the lake and the dormant volcano below.

After the ordeal is over, Jenya thanks the party whole-heartedly and reminds them that they have saved many lives in the city and prevented several businesses from suffering great damage. She hands over 2000gp (after the 3000gp reduction from resurrecting Salla) and has her acolytes provide any healing that anyone needs free of charge.

After getting a good night’s sleep the Lords of Chaos wake up as heroes and realize that the Demonskar Ball is planned to take place in 2 day's night. Time to take it easy for a while...

Spider Assault

28 November, 595

The next day, after some healing, Salla is able to rejoin the party down in the ruins. The first stop is revisiting the halfling's quarters, where they discover an arcane scroll, and remove some valuable books. Alastriel also takes some old scrolls describing the history of the ruins, which she intends to review later.

Braving the spiders' lair, the party is beset upon by strange apelike creatures with long claws. The members of the party find themselves getting stuck in the webbing about the room while they are fighting, but the monsters aren't affected. The creatures seem to be fond of grabbing hold of our heroes and tearing into them with their claws, and even are able to shoot out webbing to ensnare various members of the party.

In the next cavern Sonja and Alastriel find themselves cut off from the rest of the party after another one of these creatures threw a web between them. Meanwhile, a huge spider with shooting harpoons attacks the rest of the group. Baxtor and Kyladrian are speared, but they manage to avoid being dragged toward the foul beast. After a long battle, Kyladrian finds the underbelly of the spider, while Serro finishes off the other creature. Baxtor feels a bit sluggish after being bit. Searching the cave, they find a webbed sac full of money and other goodies, including one of the water control wands.

While they are searching 4 medium-sized spiders sneak into the room and attack the party. Kyladrian is paralyzed by a poisonous bite, but otherwise the spiders are burnt or skewered. Moving out of the room, they are met by 2 more larger spiders. A volley of magic missles from Alastriel's super-scroll slays one instantly, and the other is taken care of by the rest of the party, and finished off by a stab from Sonja's blade.

In another cavern the party finds yet another hidden sac with even more treasure. At this point it is decided to return to the surface to recover. Kyladrian is cured and Baxtor is told that a good night's rest should help him. The discovered wand is handed over to the High Priestess. A visit is paid to Skie's and she is excited to break the news that the Lords of Chaos are now among her "premium" customers. She shows them a magic rune with their name that has been added to her storefront, and offers an additional 10% discount on items bought and sold. She agrees to identify the magic items that are brought to her.

Kidnapped!

27 November, 595
Part II

After delivering Salla, the group first stops by the bathhouse to check on Artus. They find him long since gone, having left a written reponse to their note saying, "Think nothing of it. No hard feelings, eh?" Not believing this, they then decide to investigate the name Skaven Umbermead, whom they determined was the halfling wizard in the ruins who iced Salla. The captain of the town guard is able to give a tip, that Skaven may be associated with one of the underworld organizations in Cauldron.

Kyladrian decides to check his old contacts in the Alleybashers while the rest of the group does some library work, which proves fruitless. During a romp between taverns, Kyladrian finds himself alone in an alley, surrounded by 5 thugs, each with their faces painted half black, half white (ala the Last Laugh). They quickly overcome him and tie him up, leaving him in Orak's Bathhouse (reminiscent of how Artus was treated). When Kyladrian is able to escape he finds that both his light crossbow and the crossbow of frost (which he borrowed from Salla) have been taken by the thieves.

Dejected, he returns to his friends, who are relieved to see him alive.