| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
|---|---|
| #1zombiegleemaxNov 11, 2003 9:10:00 | Spoilers ahead!!!!! If you haven’t read these adventures or plan on going through as a player stop reading now!!!!! Ok saying all goes as planned tomorrow I start the DMing my group of players through the first part of the Grand Conjunction (Feast of Goblyns). Since the party is unique (I inherited it from another DM who was too kind with some of the artifacts they found not to mention the way he allowed the characters to develop… long story) I see some challenges ahead of me. First off the magi in the party is a huge blue ogre. I’ve been using this as a perfect reason to have town’s people fear him or treat him like an outcast. He also has a natural ability to fly. I’ve gotten around this by trying to keep most of the really tough action confined to indoors or small spaces. The 2nd challenge is the sword the ranger of the group has. It’s a crystal sword that glows anytime vampires are around. Since Dr. Dominiani is a vampire and part of the plot involves him tricking the party into thinking he’s a good guy I’m really stumped as to how to handle that. The party wrapped up the original Ravenloft mod followed by house on Griffin Hill where they believe they destroyed Strahd, so they have a strong fear/ dislike of vampires in the Ravenloft world. As soon as he gets close enough to the party the sword will glow and they’ll be ready to stake him. Since Akriel and Dr. Dominiani play an important part of the opening scene I wasn’t sure how to work that in with the glowing sword… I’m considering leading them on to believe the mysterious woodsman who beats Akriel was the vampire. After that point they will not have much contact with Dr. Dominiani until it is time to turn over the crown. At that point I’m at a total loss. One the group learns he is definitely a vampire they will never be willing to turn over the crown. The only thing I can thing of would be to have a servant take the crown from them before they have a chance to meet Dr. Dominiani. Any suggestions are welcome. |
| #2zombiegleemaxNov 11, 2003 11:36:12 | Easy, just give him a save against detection. Detect undead in RL isn't automatic anyway. And make sure he never fails the save. That should put fear into your players, discovering they can't rely on this sword entirely. |
| #3zombiegleemaxNov 11, 2003 11:55:33 | Try to get the party to stop at an inn. Any inn. First, have a fight almost break out for the blue demon in the party's midst. After a tense situation have the low intelligence commoners badger them with questions and then when they find out they are adventures have them badger them for stories. After everything is all chummy (of course this would be after the party has had to buy the entire tavern a few rounds of drinks and of course others coming in after hearing the commotion), have a nosey, nasty, scumy peasnt with no teeth notice the rangers sword. Have him get the crowd excited to see the sword... when the Ranger unsheaths it have the crowd oogle at it. Trick the ranger into telling about it.. either that it glows when vampires are near or just that its magic. If he admits to vampires this could continue conversation, from the crowd hooting and laughing thinking the party is mad believing in something like vampires... to them being completely cowed and not wanting to talk and avoid the party at that point... either could make for a little town plot hook. When the fact that the sword is magic or glows when vampires are near make a secret roll for each party member. If its successful tell each member in secret they see a hooded man from the shadows leave the tavern. When the party leaves you can have them jumped and the sword stolen by a group. Or its stolen out of their room while they sleep, don't forget modifiers and see to it they get liquored or sexed up. While they are unconscious or 'busy' the sword can disappear. Have them attacked while camping, or just have them wake up and find that they have been looted. Back in the bar you can also have almost anything mis construed and the group turns into an angry mob that wants to kill the blue devil after all. While they are on the run out of town they can always be jumped by the other group after the sword. You can always treat a magic item in Ravenloft as an excuse to pursucute players for being in league with evil or have many different factions dogging the players soly for possession of their items. You could also have them get introuble with local law anywhere, captured and detained, and when they are finally released or escape the guards don't "remember" taking the sword off them, or its just gone, etc. Either way the law wouldn't care. A major adventure could just be to get back the stuff the party had in its possession in the first place. After you run the party raggard and they are beaten down, haggard, scard and looking to rest up, then you can introduce them to the multi-module G.C. Nothing like going into a major event at the worst possible time. Anyone can start the party off on a major tale once they are all stocked up and rested. Do it at the worst possible time and they would never expect it. The old "it could be worse, it could be raining." They are on the run from the angry mob and the group after the sword and don't you know it... a bunch of pesky gobylns hear everyone and attack all of you. Chaos ensues. The people would hate the party. See! I knew they were an omen of evil! The Blue Demon has summoned his servants! Etc. etc. Hope some of those ideas are useful to you. ~andrew |
| #4The_JesterNov 11, 2003 13:47:07 | I always hate setting out to specifically steal an item from players. Its often very hard because they have an annoying tendancy to get paranoid at the wrong times and do stuff like bar all entrances to their room, have the non-sleeping elf stay sober and keep watch, or not bother to go to sleep at all and just stay up drinking all night. It's also pretty rude and abusive to specifically set out to deprive a character of an item jsut because it screws with your plans. Its like punishing them for something they didn't do. But my personal aversion don't help Lildog. I'd have Dominia magic up. Maybe have an underling cast some spell that could prevent detection. If there isn't a spell that works in the PC or RL: Campian Setting, create one. Or give him a saving throw as Charney suggested. Or have Dominia always work through servants, be the name on parchment. Perhaps he has heard rummours of the heroes and knows their sword so he has underlings Change Self to resemble his description and sends them. |
| #5zombiegleemaxNov 11, 2003 14:16:01 | Originally posted by Charney Actually relying on the sword is what I used to put more fear into them when Strahd was around... anytime the sword started to glow they knew he was close. I called it the captain hook syndrome like when he freaked out from the tick tock of the alligator who eat his arm. daffy72, I like some of your suggestions but again, I don't want them to lose the sword entirely. As I said, I have used it to the DMs advantage in the past. Since the two adventures I've put this group through already both involved Strahd, I'm starting to think I can make them think Strahd is back hunting for them. If I play the cards right I can have them think the mystery man who beats Akriel is Strahd all the while it is the other mystery man causing the sword to glow. But the problem remains when it comes time to hand off the crown to the vampire. As for the angry mob suggestion, already used that one. When the party entered Barovia they were hunted as witches by the villagers once they saw the party use magic. As for the big blue meany... well any shop they tried to walk into they were told that their "pet" would have to wait outside. It’s been made very clear to him that his kind is not welcomed so he plays it off rather well. He’s good at snooping around the backs of shops while the rest are inside or sneaking into the window of a room at the inn so not to cause a ruckus. Also just a little history on the party, they are an eager fighting group. While the other DM was running a game (he and I take turns playing the cleric while the other DMs) they started a fight in the center of a town with the town guard, it was started when one of the players insulted a local ship captain and then killed him and some of his crew… one of the crew members were able to escape and get the town guards. The guards totally out numbering the group back the entire party onto a shipping dock where the magi was "smart" enough to cast a fireball on the land side of the dock blocking it off so they couldn't get to us. He cast a 2nd fireball at the tavern (since alcohol would start a BIG fire) to further distract the guards who were hunting us. So that left the party having to steal a boat since we were trapped on the end of a long pier, which there just happened to be one at the end of the dock who's crew was just unpacking from a long voyage (the 4 man crew were hiding in the boat to stay out of the fray). After getting out to sea the party then turned and killed the 4 man crew who were the only ones who knew how to control the ship... That was one of the points the other DM tagged off and let me take over. The party is made up of two rangers (one with the magic vampire sword), a blue ogre magi, a cleric and a psion. We had a thief but he left for college. I’m a bit glad that the thief left… he posed another problem. He had a belt of strength, which gave the user a 99 str while dropping dex to 1. He used it for tasks where he didn’t have to move much such as breaking down doors or bending bars. It would have really put a damper on any efforts to trap them in a cell. |
| #6zombiegleemaxNov 11, 2003 17:04:11 | Originally posted by The_Jester Sounds like a fun night of roleplaying to me. If they are paranoid at the wrong times and scared and unprepared when they should be or slowly brewed party infighting that comes to a head the day the elf snaps ------ HEY they are in Ravenloft! That's the point. Rooms sometimes have secret entrances, Con rolls every hour drinking and a failed con roll has a PC pass out so they are not alert AND drunk when the attack comes. C'mon, PC enemies are suspposed to be out their watching and studying the PCs all the time. They are as smart or smarter then the PCs, if not more so AND have greater resources and numbers to draw upon. They pay people for info, or threaten to kill their families if they don't tell where the strangers are. You have no friends here. Ravenloft is HELL. And you're not taking away magic items because it screws with plans... You take them away because there are almost no magic items. They are KNOWN.. they have names and histories... Darklords have like 3 total. Except for Darkon and Hazlan. And on plans... besides as DM most plans should be made when they occur.. they evolve dependant on the action of the game.. not before hand.. beforehand prep is just to give you a few ideas during improv. But this is just one persons opinion. To Lildog7: You could use the sword to the DMs advantage having the mystery man cause it to glow. The party can be jumped once they have the crown and the sword stolen. Or the Ranger alone can be jumped if he is the one that does'nt have the crown. The party can come across the sword later in a loot section, or you could use it later on if you REALLY want or need them to go to a certain place. Try to always make sure the needing them to go somewhere is because it makes for a really good story... not just because you want them there. *Smiles. Or they could hear word of a sword, think its that one.. go off to search for it, and you could give them a different item. Maybe one of Dr. Dominiani's thugs is the one who gets it, they find it with the Dr. but he's started to look into a way to unmake it and in his attempts has ruined the enchantment and it only works a percent of the time. FINALLY, maybe they are just walking along the sword glows, they find out the Dr. is a vamp and they do what they have to without tipping their hand just to get out of there... (maybe the Dr. makes an entrance when the party is DEFINATLY at a disadvantage and its best to just leave. Then you have a nice enemy who will send forces to dog the party till they are dead because they know the Dr. secret. Or the Dr. makes a deal to the party, he IS intelligent after all. |
| #7The_JesterNov 11, 2003 17:29:21 | Hmm, what would the range be on the vamp detection? He could stay outside of it and possibly charm the party, they may not notice then. Or he could just operate through charmed lackeys. For later stories maybe the sword only works on traditional vampires and not norsferatu or demi-human. |
| #8zombiegleemaxNov 12, 2003 11:06:12 | Originally posted by The_Jester Well once again my game is pushed off another week (which is why I started the thread looking for new players). But it gives me more time to plot... I've never really considered what the range would be on the vamp detection sword since I've used it more to cause fear then anything else. But I would assume if they are close enough to hear their voices then it should be close enough to set off the sword. Different races of vampires is an idea... sort of like what they had in Blade 2. Since an underlying plot of the story will be a war between werewolves and wolfweres tying in two different breeds of vampires could add some fun. |
| #9zombiegleemaxNov 21, 2003 10:04:19 | Ok last night we FINIALLY had our game after countless months of delay. Here's the recap... The party found themselves somehow teleported into a small clearing in the center of very deep forests (they left off the last setting with a large explosion which is the cause of their teleporting). Finding a small hunting trail they headed into the wood. The ranger of the group spoke with the squirrels to find out about any one or any thing that may have used the trials... they were told about the local woodsmen and the large hairy wolf type things. The large hairy wolf type things are at war with the other types of hairy wolf type things. The party now worried they are in the center of a war zone made the choice to pick up speed on the path hoping to find civilization. Instead they came across the mangled body of a woodsman. In his hand was a iron sword which caught the parties interest since iron swords are inferior to steel swords so they are unheard of in this day and age. Thinking there may be more to it they picked it up and continued. They came out by a large amphitheater and a crystal lined caved with a beautiful woman standing at the door. They inquired as to what she was doing and found she was the matradee for a high-class club called the crystal club. They also learned about local performances at the theater. Not wanting to spend the 100 gp each to just enter the high-class club they headed into the town of Harmonia. Not soon after a man claiming to be the jailer ran up to them in need of help. He informed them of the local law requiring them to come to his aid and threatened to have the town militia after them if they didn't help. Wondering why the militia isn't helping him the reluctantly helped. After being lead down a long dark hallway by two additional guards named Cannon and Fodder :D they watched in horror as something in the darkness ripped through the first guard as if he were paper. The 2nd guard pointed to a rack of iron swords and daggers and said "for this here wolfwere those will do a lot better then those weapons you have" then he too went down to be torn apart. The party quickly grabbed the weapons and headed down to attack. Just as the first two party members reach the snarling beast bars came out of the floor every couple feet trapping some members of the party back down the hall leaving them only able to watch as the two members who were at the end had to battle the beast alone. -More to come- |
| #10zombiegleemaxNov 21, 2003 10:36:53 | Originally posted by Lildog7 Astute observation on behalf of the PCs. a beautiful woman standing at the door. They inquired as to what she was doing and found she was the matradee for a high-class club called the crystal club. OH NO! mwah-ha-ha! Not soon after a man claiming to be the jailer ran up to them in need of help. Trap of the Jailor! Named Cannon and Fodder LOL! I translated those names into German one time for my Death Of A Darklord game! Funny stuff! Awesome work, LilDog. I'm runnin my players through FoG right now too, but I skipped the Trap Of the Jailor part. It wasn't fitting with the flow of the campaign, so I dumped it. Are they making their way to the Old Kartakan Inn now? How'z Harmonia reacting to the blue Ogre Magi? LOL Keep up the good work, LilDoggy Dogg! peace, MSD |
| #11zombiegleemaxNov 21, 2003 11:25:47 | How'z Harmonia reacting to the blue Ogre Magi? They are acceptable to pets... but I'm getting to that. So here they were the ogre and the barbarian (I think I may have said ranger but he was 2 rows of bars behind). The Psion was in the 2nd cell section and the thief was all the way in the back by himself. So the ogre and the barbarian started battling the bad guy as the psion helped out with mental attacks. The ranger tried his best to push the mechanical bars back down into the floor where they sprang from. The thief came up with the bright idea of opening other cells while he was trapped by himself. During the battle the ogre was bitten and clawed by the wolfwere but since it wasn't a werewolf he said, "I don't think these can infect you the same way, so I'm not worried... yet". And in the heat of battle he came up with the bright idea of fireballing the beast while he and the barb stood in the door to a 10 by 5 cell. Needless to say they both were slammed almost as bad as they hit the wolfwere. The ranger continued in vein to push down the bars. And the thief now opening a cell was overcome by the stench and found himself vomiting in a corner. Finally they were able to beat the monster and now called out to the jailer to let them out. From the end of the hall a small peep hole opened and they saw the jailers eyes. "Ok let us out now,” They asked him. "Sorry, you’re infected" he replied. "Infected with what?" asked the ogre as he scratched his wounds. Getting no response the soon figured they were on their own to break free but first they had to get everyone together into one cell area. Working in groups they were slowly able to push the bars down into the floor section by section until they were all in the cell with the dead wolfwere. As they were pushing down the bars the ogre and barbarian heard voices from outside. They couldn't make anything out but there was definitely a woman’s voice and a males. At this time a couple of the party members noticed the rangers vampire sword started to glow. The conversation ended and the woman started toward the direction of the jail. Suddenly a larger darkly clothed man stepped out between the small jail window and the girl. After yelling at her he pulled out a whip and started to beat her. Between her cries the party heard him say "change" and "vampire". The party all in the cell as a whole started screaming out and tried to pull the bars from the window. Hearing them he started off down the road. He was joined by 4 large wolves. "Strahd!!!!" One of the party members yelled out thinking it was their long time foe returned to torment them again. He turned just enough for them to see his beard then he continued away. "Strahd never had a beard" one of the party members though out loud. Soon after the man wondered off the ranger noticed his sword also stopped glowing. -More to come- |
| #12zombiegleemaxNov 21, 2003 11:30:56 | -more to come- HURRY THE HECK UP!!!!! |
| #13zombiegleemaxNov 21, 2003 11:40:00 | So seeing this poor girl laying shaking on the ground they pulled with all their might and broke free of their cell. The blue ogre rushed to her side... "Don't hit me any more, I will marry you" she cried. He smiled and said he was flattered but wasn't sure if she would be large enough to hand someone of his size (he's about 8 foot tall). Looking up she gasped not sure what to make of the blue thing before her. "Don't worry, I'm a good guy" he explained to her. The rest of the group rushed around her side to see if she was already. She explained she was. Asking who he was she went on to explain he was a woodsman she was being forced to marry because of a curse. Her true love was the wonderful Dr. D. Asking more about the curse she explained to them the only way to lift the curse would be to find the crown of soldiers and have the visaniti use it to lift the curse. "What’s in it for us" the group asked her. She started to weep since she was poor and had nothing to offer. "Ok can we keep this crown thing once the curse is lifted... sounds powerful". She agreed that after her seer lifted the curse they could keep the crown and they agreed to meet her in Skald in a few days time to get more details about where they can find it. The ranger pointed out that Skald is a Viking word for Bard... discovery channel pays off. Ok since they had a few days they figure what better thing to do then to explore the town. -More to come- |
| #14zombiegleemaxNov 21, 2003 11:48:38 | So where to go in town... THE PUB!!!!! The rush off to the Hairy Dog tavern to get some drinks and see if they could find more information on the woodsman who beat poor Akriel (I forgot to mention they did get her name). They pub was full of woodsmen type and the couple bards. One bard played music in the corner. They went up to the barkeep and started asking about the woodsman. Rumor has it he lives in the woods between Harmonia and Skald. As the spoke to the barkeep they started noticing that the bard was singing about a group of adventures who fought with the vampire Strahd, what caught their ear was that one of the group was a blue giant. That couldn't be us.... hmmmmm.... They asked other patrons about the woodsman or the crystal club. One pointed out they simply must come back when Harkon Lukas performs. He is world renown for his vocal ability. They agreed they would come back to hear him and checked into two adjoining rooms. That night the ogre had a horrible dream of being chased by wolves. As he ran away he also noticed he was running on all fours. The next morning the group thought it best to visit the local church for a healing (since the cleric wasn't playing last night). They meet the priest in the church of the claw. The father explained they worship nature and follow the guidance of Mother Fury. Thinking nothing of it they showed the cleric the now hairy wounds the ogre received. For a small donation he performed a ritual he claimed would take care of the process. They headed out and felt it time to start toward Skald. And that's where we left off last night. Next adventure is in two weeks (I hope!). |
| #15zombiegleemaxNov 21, 2003 12:33:25 | I should actually expand a little on the encounter with Akriel. The party clearly doesn't trust her. Mostly because they were suckered in by a beautiful woman before. The party was lost at sea and came to an island were they meet a fairly attractive woman. Convincing the group she was a prisoner held by the evil forces higher up the tower she had two party members take her back to the boat while the rest stood guard incase the nasties come down the tower. While she transformed into a witch once outside and started to pummel the 2 party members while the rest had to stand helplessly by the air slits watching unable to do anything. The couple that ran down to help did make it in time to finish her off but she gave the two quite a beating first. Then the letter asking for help, which dragged the entire party into Barovia wasn't their idea of a fun time either. So they have wisely begun not to trust anyone. Plus they know someone was a vampire. They assume it was the woodsman who beat Akriel. But they asked her why he said the word vampire and change. She claimed not to know since she wasn't paying much attention since he was after all beating her. But as they learned that Harkon Lukas has a dwelling in Skald and the woodsman lives between Harmonia and Skald the barbarian pointed out all roads seem to lead to Skald. Although they don't really want to help her they find themselves being drawn to Skald no matter what. Now here is a teaser of what’s coming up and with this group sometimes I truly don’t know so anything could happen. I’m hoping they actually head toward Skald. I’m sure they will look for clues about the woodsman along the way. As they do they will run across a wolfwere who’s been terrorizing and killing a family. Killing him they’ll come across the list of names that has Akriel and Harkon Lukas among others. This I’m sure will cause them to question her more and put more distrust into the group. As they spend time in the Kartakan Inn the blue ogre will find people playing mind games with him. This will I hope cause him to question whether or not he is still ill from the bite. I’m also wondering whether or not to have them chance a meeting with Harkon Lukas while at the Inn. They do know he is slatted to perform at the theater the same day they are planning on heading to Skald so they may put off their trip a day to hear him. If not I’m sure I’ll chance an encounter with him at the Inn a couple days later. |
| #16zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 10:56:45 | Finally after weeks of put offs we finally picked up the adventure. For anyone who read the first part and was curious as to what happened here's some of the follow up... After making the call to meet Akriel in Skald the group found they had some time to kill before making the trip so they took in a local show. Harkon Lukas was performing at the amphitheatre so they sat back at enjoyed the show. After the performance two women started collecting tips. Harkon announced all donations would be given to the local orphanage (for displaced wolf pups ;) ) The ogre mage turn invisible and followed Harkon into the crystal club while the group’s barbarian followed the donations. The money was brought to the local church (who's holy symbol is that of a red claw), since he noticed nothing odd about this he headed back to regroup. The ogre didn't stay long enough to notice anything odd in the club and he too headed back. At that point they headed for a room at the inn. The following day they started off to Skald. Along the way they found the body of a dead woodsman who was stuck with 23 silver tipped arrows. They also found a list of names in his pouch. Among names such as Stryder and Ace Rimmer (what a guy) they noticed two names they recognized... Harkon Lukas and Akriel. Unknown to the party the body was that of a dead werewolf. Because of the secrete war between the werewolves and wolfweres he was given a list of names of known wolfweres to assassinate. He failed in his job. -More to come- |
| #17zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 11:06:04 | Later in their trip to Skald a stage came by carrying Harkon Lukas (which they had over heard in the crystal club he would be headed towards). He stopped and questioned the group. Since he had only heard of a blue ogre once before in legend (200 years prior a group with a blue ogre defeated a very powerful vampire in a near by land) he asked if maybe somehow it was the same one or a offspring of the legend. The party denied everything and Harkon left saying it was a pity because he could have offered a ride to share stories if they knew anything about them. What they haven’t quite clicked into yet is they were the party in the legend and the stories were of them “defeating” Strahd (who they think is dead at this point, but that’s for a future adventure). After the explosion at the end of the Griffin Hill adventure they were sent through time to where (and when) they are now. Finally they came to Skald. In the description I gave of the town was it was built like a fortress (sort of a helms deep) but set in the back of the town was an amazing sight. An inn that looked completely out of place in the poorer looking town. It was built on a small island with waterfalls coming down on either side. The roar of the water downed out all sounds to the point they could hardly hear each other from a few feet away. A small bridge lead over the water threw the mists of the falls to the island with the inn. In awe of this massive site the part made the call to head in and check it out. - more to come- |
| #18zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 11:12:10 | Wasting no time the party headed to the inn keep and asked for a room. They were offered private rooms at 10 gp a night or the common room at 1 gp a night. Being cheapskates they took the common room. They then decided to get food and ale before heading to the room. The dwarven cleric felt it was far too long since they last took in a good mug of ale. As they spoke to the locals picking up rumors of the werewolves attacking from the west and other clues hinting to the war. Since unknown to the party the inn was populated by a large number of wolfweres the rumors they picked up were more about the horrid werewolves. They also missed the fact (which I tried to all but bat them over the head with) that the area by the fire had a werewolf head mounted above the fireplace and a werewolf pelt on the floor as a rug. As they kicked back with their ale they were greeted by an ill looking elderly bard telling them they were one day early. He then told the party “their pretty” would be waiting in the back room and they could meet up with her at any time since she was already for them. As he told them that he broke into a coughing fit and dropped a small pouch containing a key. -more to come- |
| #19zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 11:32:16 | The party headed off to sleep the night away in the common room. They agree to each take turns at watch regardless to the odd fact they were the only ones in the room (what they didn’t know was they were the only guests in the entire inn as well). The cleric joked that wouldn’t it be funny if the common room was made up full of parties doing the same thing, each with one character staying up staring at the others. So anyway, the group grabbed some of the fur pelts to snuggle off to sleep in (more werewolf pelts by the way). During the night a drunk wandered in and started giving the barbarian a hard time. The barbarian thinking as quickly as a barbarian could played it off he couldn't talk in hopes the drunk would leave him alone. He started making odd sounds and spouting off things like “ooopp blog nort!”. The drunk asked him if he was at least bright enough to pass a couple more werewolf pelts over. Ignoring him the barbarian just sat there making his odd sounds. The drunk (who was actually a wolfwere named Tom who won a bet with the other wolfweres to see who would get to kill the group during the night) faked sleep until the cleric took watch. He sat up and started asking odd questions like what kind of magic weapons did they have and why they all hauling around those old iron weapons? The cleric was as rude as possible and since that didn’t work he just started to ignore ‘ol Tom. The next shift was the blue ogre mages. The stranger once again started in saying how powerful the ogre looked. He then made a comment that the ogre was the one he was waiting for and started shape changing into a wolf type form. Making his horror check the ogre woke everyone up very quickly and they started fighting with the wolfwere. After a short battle he lay dead on the floor in the shape of a wolf. Since it was morning at that point, they hid the body under the sleeping pelts that scattered the room and headed down to meet Akriel. Four angry looking burly men sat in the pub and gave them dirty looks as they passed towards the back room. The men being the other wolfweres. Seeing the party come up unharmed they figured ol Tom was no more and weren’t too happy. The party headed into the back room and found a door leading further back into the inn. The key from the old bard fit the lock in the door and they found Akriel waiting for them. She informed them that the servant slipped them the key quietly to keep from arising suspicion from spies. She took the key from them and locked the door. After some pleasantries she told them they could find the crown of solders to the east of Harmonia, in a cave "where the bones lie". They asked her tons of questions and finally agreed to take the job. She drew out a crude map and wished them well telling them to return to the inn with the crown if they were able to retrieve it. -more to come- |
| #20zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 11:47:36 | So the group took the trip back to Harmonia, which was without trouble then they headed east. They eventually came to a valley where they heard a loud thundering drumming sound. As they headed into the foggy valley they found nothing living. In fact not only was there no sign of grass or shrub but they found bodies and bones scattered everywhere. Large birds swooped down from time to time to pick at the bodies chained to posts about the cavern. The drumming got louder the deeper into the valley they headed. They eventually came out by a large oak tree (at which time the drumming stopped), which was odd since everything else here was dead. Ignoring the oak they continued on and came to two small caves. Flipping a coin they Headed into one of them. To save time I kind of combined both caves into one so it didn’t matter which cave they picked. At the entrance they found a rib bone stuck in the wall. The ogre went over to it and tried to pull it from the wall. Pulling the rib set off a trap were sand starting filling the entry way. They hurried out and sat as the cave entrance was sealed off by sand. After some time they dug their way back into the cave (convinced now after such a trap something had to have been in this cave and not the other). Heading in they found a lifelike statue of an old hag with a skull in her hand (Regada). The dwarf in admiring the stonework found that in the skull was a small key. -more to come- |
| #21zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 14:48:20 | As the group continued into the cave down one path after the next they then came to a bridge with swirling mists under it. As the crossed the mists took on the look of faces. Freaking out a little at this point the barbarian came to the conclusion something very bad lives here. Heading down another path they came to a 2nd bridge made of a huge bone. They puzzled over what type of odd animal this bone could have come from since it was so much larger then any bones found in dragons. They all agreed they didn’t want to find out. As they were scooping out the bridge the blue ogre found the ceiling above the bridge to be covered with spiders the size of cats. After killing 2 of them the party took off figuring they weren’t worth the time to kill and weren’t fast enough to catch them if they all ran. Why the mage didn’t cast a fire ball when he uses that spell every other chance he gets I’ll never guess. They came to a dead end with a small hole. The dwarven cleric checked out the hole he noticed it was greased with some kind of oil or something but it almost looked like a drain. They joked it was the bottom of the deep fryer to cook whatever those huge were bones that made up the bridge was. Backtracking they tried a different path (making sure to avoid the path with the spiders who they were sure weren’t happy with their running away). They found a very attractive woman chained to a bone chair. Freeing her they continued on. They found she was rude, nasty and demanding as they headed deeper into the cave. Coming out into a torture room they found an identical looking woman strapped to a table. Turning back to the first she transformed into the evil looking hag they saw in the original statue. A fight broke out after which she lay dead on the floor. They haven’t figured out yet but that was Regada. -more to come- |
| #22zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 14:54:52 | Turning attention back to the woman on the table the party first assumed she was dead (looking as if she starved to death). The cleric checked for signs of life... there were. After a cure light wounds spell the woman was able to talk. She pleaded with the group to kill her since they were only going to prolong her agony by healing her. They untied her. She was able to explain to them that she was magically bound to the table, so they of course tried to lift her from the table. As they picked her up a small wisp of mist formed what looked like a cord between her and the table. Again she begged to be killed. They said they couldn't do it and looked for a way to maybe take the table with them not wanting to leave her for dead. They found the table slid and under it was a hidden passage. The tunnel was clouded over by mist. The cleric started into the passage and disappeared into the mist. The rest of the group called out but no answer. Telling the girl they would be back one by one they went into the passage... each disappearing within a couple feet into the mist. They found themselves in a room with a six-armed statue; in each arm was a skull. It told them telepathically to choose the skull of their destiny. The cleric picked first taking the middle right skull. For some reason the rest of the party saw him take the top left skull. He disappeared after picking the skull (it reappeared in the hand). The cleric was also granted an unholy gift, he can now walk without making a sound. He muttered it would be nice if he were a thief but what good does that do a cleric. And being a gift of evil he feels he must now repent for it in some way. The ogre then picked the top left skull that he thought he saw the cleric pick and was covered in mist that started eating at him like acid. The barbarian then took the same skull and he too was being eaten by the acid. They then tried again announcing out loud which skull they were picking and found a skull that teleported them to where the cleric was. -more to come- |
| #23zombiegleemaxJan 15, 2004 16:20:47 | One by one they appeared in a room with 4 doors (obscured by mists) and a large pit in the center of the room. Suspended by 4 chains over the pit was a platform with a skeleton torso wearing a very ornate crown. The blue ogre mage flew over and tried to just grab the crown. Just as he went to grab it 3 skeleton type critters burst in and attacked. The torso wearing the crown grabbed it and held it out as if it would drop it into the pit. The ogre tried again to grab the crown but instead the 4 chains snapped and down went the entire platform. The barbarian killed one of the undead while the cleric turned the other two. The ogre mage headed down into the pit after the crown. At the bottom he found the crown as well as a dread troll. Grabbing the crown and taking a few good wacks by the troll he quickly flew back up. The troll clawed his way up the pit. More fighting ensued. The troll being a lot tougher then they thought put up a good fight before they finally beat it. The cleric burned it's body to make sure it wouldn't come back. Now with the crown in hand they started to look to the four door ways to find a way out and that's where we called it a night. |
| #24zombiegleemaxJan 30, 2004 8:41:50 | For anyone who’s following the misadventures here’s a recap of this week’s session… The group found themselves in the room with crown in hand ready to find a way out. The Ogre picked a door and started into the fog. He came face to face with 4 skeletons (actually Heucuva). At the same 2 skeletons came from another of the 4 doors, 2 skeleton warriors the opposite and 4 sword wraiths from the last. The party assumed they were all simple skeletons. The ogre quickly took out the 4 Heucuva with a fireball. The Ranger (who wasn’t there the week before due to work) toasted the 2 actual skeletons. The Cleric had some trouble but held his own against the sword wraiths but the barbarian got laid out by the skeletons warriors. Dropping to –5 hit points and losing one per round the party found they were in a race for time to save him from death (-10). None of them were able to understand why some of the skeletons went down like paper while others packed such a powerful punch. With spells a flying and the wraiths and warriors not totally dead the cleric was able to pull the dying barbarian away from the warriors while the ranger took the wraiths and the ogre mage took the two skeleton warriors. A quick healing spell stabilized the barbarian but he was in no condition to rejoin the melee. Once the wraiths were finished off the party turned to the two warriors and with some trouble finally finished them off. Quickly they used every bit of healing spell and herbs they had to gain straight, not sure what they may face trying to get out of the cave. Heading back into the mist they found themselves back in the valley outside the cave. Quickly the headed back to the inn to meeting Akriel for their reward. A couple days journey later (resting and regrouping along the way) they made it to the inn. While in the bar someone bumped into the barbarian, fearing a thief and preparing to take him out the barbarian did a quick inventory. Not only was all his supplies there but a small key had been planted on him. Knowing right away it would fit the private back room the party quietly one by one headed back to meet Akriel. Overwhelmed with joy she thanked the party but…. She then asked if they could take the crown to the keep of Dr. Dominiani to avoid any spies catching her. After finding out he would have their reward waiting for them they headed off. - more - |
| #25zombiegleemaxJan 30, 2004 8:51:25 | The party arrived at the keep at nightfall and started towards the door. Just then a wild boar came rushing out from the woods in a total panic. Fearing whatever may be causing the boar to act that way the party hid. Soon after 4 worgs came charging out after the boar. Waiting until they safely passed the party knocked on the keep door. Greeted by the servant the party was taken to the dinning room to wait for the doctor. Soon after the servant returned saying the doctor requested the crown. ‘Not without some reward up front’ muttered the dwarven cleric. The servant left returning shortly with a small bag of gems. Inspecting the bag to make sure they were real they handed over the crown to the servant. After they had a chance to eat they were taken to a guest room and told the Dr. had other business to attend to. There was a note left for them about a madman he had to attend to. No happy with their host abandoning them the party took for the night in the room. (I did this because the party has a sword the glows if a vampire in near by, as soon as the Doctor got too close they would have known not to trust him) The following morning they were taken down to the dinning room and given a healthy breakfast. They were then given a note to take back to Akriel along with another gem as a payment for their troubles. - more - |
| #26zombiegleemaxJan 30, 2004 8:54:13 | Reluctantly they once again headed back to the Inn. Along the way they peeked in at the note, it was nothing more then a love note to Akriel. When they arrived they found Akriel acting very causal at the bar. They went up to her and said they were back. Akriel said of course you are. The handed her the tube with the letter. Waving a hand over the letter the party watched as the lettering changed. Akriel’s voice dropped and became man like and in a very upset tone asked them to follow. The party headed back into the back room again. When they arrived Akriel had changed into Harkon Lukas the bard they saw singing earlier. He handed them the note. It no longer the love note but a message of a prepared war and how the crown would help Daclaud Heinfroth (the doctors real name) take over town after town in this domain. Harkon screamed at the party asking how they could be such fools to allow this to happen. They no longer knowing who to trust started in with questions, one being so how does this affect us. Harkon pointed out the crown of souls (not soldiers as they thought) was cursed and they were now bound to it. He also pointed out Akriel was pure evil and Daclaud was a powerful vampire using her. The party asked why Harkon would pose as Akriel and why he didn’t know of this plan before and also asked why he should be trusted over her. Harkon admitted Akriel was his daughter and that he had to spy on her because of her troublesome nature. He unfortunately just caught wind of this plan from the letter. The group huddled up and discussed their options. Figuring at this point it would be in their best interest to get the crown back in their own possession then to sort out who the good guys and the bad guys were later they opted to sleep the night in the inn then head back to the doctors keep in the morning. When they arrived in the common room a man sat waiting for them. He introduced himself as a werewolf. He explained his fears that if Akriel and Daclaud succeed in their plan they will form a 3rd army in the war already ravaging the land. The werewolves and wolfweres would both be fair game for Daclaud and his new army. He also pointed out Akriel was a wolfwere. The barbarian muttered where were all these people with advise BEFORE we found that crown. The party no longer wanting to hear about their mistakes told the spy to beat it and they crashed out for the night. During the night the cleric noticed the ogre was having bad dreams again but upon waking him he remembered none of them. The reason being is they the ogre is turning into a werewolf. The cleric who “cured” him did nothing more then slowed down the disease. But the part will learn more of this latter. The form he’s afflicted with will not have the normal trigger to send him off into his new form. His trigger will be the smell of wolf’s bane as they will learn when they eventually head back to Regada’s valley. Anyway this is where we called it quits for the night. More to come in a couple weeks. |
| #27zombiegleemaxJan 31, 2004 18:32:22 | Sounds like you're having a lot of fun :D |