Author: Joel

Party Roster:
Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 8th level cleric, 51 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Jeff
Quentin, 9th level druid, 44 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 4th level fighter, 41 hp, henchman
Alduin, 8th level thief, 39 hp, played by Vic
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Albee, 6th level monk, 37 hp, NPC
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 6th level illusionist, 12 hp, played by Aaron
We set off from the site of the devastation of the hobgoblin tribe, whose souls had been lost to the demon, as well as their money and magic items.
That’s a great opening line.
One thing not mentioned last time: prior to the expedition many members of the Defenders got suspicious of Spittle the crow, who continuously turned up evil on all scans. We ESPed him while saying things, and found out that he understands significantly more than it would appear, including at least dozens of words in Common.
We didn’t know what to make of this, and we still didn’t the when we encountered the dwarven party marching down the slopes. They were a huge expedition of about a hundred dwarves in banded mail, including five different standard bearers. We hailed them and asked about dangers up ahead. They laid down the usual “don’t release any demons” warning and told us of a large tribe of a few hundred noblink in the valley that would extort food and money. We told them that a hobgoblin tribe had planned an ambush for them, and they were dead now.
They began to march past, and then suddenly called a halt. A wizened and ancient dwarf wearing a skull cap helmet came forward and asked us sharp questions in dwarven, which were translated to Human by another dwarf (although several members of the party speak dwarven, this just didn’t seem a good time to point that out). He asked about the elves, the orc, what we were doing, etc. Kain explained that we were trying to “help him.” The dwarf said sadly, “We tried that with the spiders, and it didn’t work.”

(more…)

Party Roster:
Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 8th level cleric, 51 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Jeff
Quentin, 9th level druid, 44 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 4th level fighter, 41 hp, henchman
Alduin, 8th level thief, 39 hp, played by Vic
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Albee, 6th level monk, 37 hp, NPC
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 6th level illusionist, 10+ hp, played by Aaron
A very cool and productive game session!
The party had several goals for the final adventures of the party. We would like to gain Morgan the ability to rise in level, as he is less than 10,000 XP from 8th level, which he cannot train to. There were two ways to accomplish this: actually raising his level (or just his level limit), or raising his strength.
We also wanted a Potion of Treasure Finding to find the remaining treasure of the defeated will’o’wisp, which was clearly hidden somewhere in that area.
We split into two parties to accomplish this. Morgan, Alduin, and Donald went to Carse, while Felix and Nakumanu went to Koralgesh. Cassian and Bogomel went to Teft to train, Kain went to Teft to work with the Silban church, Chiaro went to Koralgesh to drill and train, Quentin trained in Restenford, Balinor remained in Restenford, and Albee went to Barnacus to train.
We went broke making our training costs plus treasure finding potion costs, and the Baron lent us 10,000 gp to tide us over until the will’o’wisp’s treasure was recovered.
In Koralgesh, Felix fumbled around but found absolutely no offers. Morgan was (surprise) much luckier.

(more…)

Party Roster:
Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Jeff
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Alduin, 8th level thief, 39 hp, played by Vic
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 8th level druid, 37 hp, played by Jeremy
Albee, 5th level monk, 31 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 3rd level fighter, 31 hp, henchman
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 5th level illusionist, 9 hp, played by Aaron
(Note: I would NEVER write a false summary on April Fools Day. Have no fear.)
The party had just been dropped back in time though a time warp/simulation or whatever, perhaps inside the grey philosopher’s twisted mind. We had woken to find ourselves in the ancient Khargish city. Our first contact was made with the high priest of the Korian church, an older man named Matar (which, I noted, means “to kill” in Spanish).
After we at least partially convinced that we were weird and probably not entirely insane, Matar agreed to meet with us daily in a park in town, where all the trees had been cut down. It seems that the situation in the city was roughly this:

(more…)

Party Roster:
Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Jeff
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Alduin, 8th level thief, 39 hp, played by Vic
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 8th level druid, 37 hp, played by Jeremy
Albee, 5th level monk, 31 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 3rd level fighter, 31 hp, henchman
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 5th level illusionist, 9 hp, played by Aaron
Quote for the day: “I’m a druid. I’m practically a tree.” –Quentin
We last left our bloodthirsty party in the swamp having deftly evaded fanged bullfrogs or some such things. We were located in the section of high ground (see Summary #33-34) where we last spoke with the stork people (they were a ghostly and ominous voice on the wind). We spoke to a buzzard (picture a Warner Brothers buzzard) who directed us to their nest, hidden somewhere in the reeds. We began to travel, and Chiaro used a Detect Invisibility. Chiaro at one point spotted a thing in the bushes, but it vanished from sight in moments.
Then the very bad thing that we expected to happen, happened. Balinor felt three sharp beaks stab him through his plate mail (inflicting 67 damage and four wounds) and he fell to the ground gasping for help. Chiaro, not wanting to die by drawing attention to himself, began casting a Phantasmal Force to indicate where the invisible creatures were. Meanwhile, Quentin and Kain began healing spells and prayers while Donald cast Minor Globe of Invulnerability, shielding himself and Cassian. Cassian began to drink the Potion of Avian Control. Felix ordered the fighters into a line and organized a defense. It appeared that the storkpeople were planning to kill Quentin as things currently stood.

(more…)

Party Roster:
Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Jeff
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Alduin, 8th level thief, 39 hp, played by Vic
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 8th level druid, 37 hp, played by Jeremy
Albee, 5th level monk, 31 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 3rd level fighter, 31 hp, henchman
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 5th level illusionist, 9 hp, played by Aaron
The high point: Treasure division and money collection.
The low point: Too numerous to count.
Perhaps you recall the Tharizdun game prior to the big one? You may remember that the word for that game was… “frustration…”
The Defenders regrouped in Restenford after having been nearly annihilated by the Queen of Grottoes party. The prisoners were interrogated and eventually the two agents of the Queen of Grottoes were executed. The halfling fighter was impressed into the Garroten army, and the gnome was sent back to the Church of Dionysus with a full pardon and a request that they maybe keep an eye on the “doofus” and avoid this mistake in the future (indicating that he was very lucky to be alive).
Several other QoG agents were rounded up in Poseidonus, Barnacus, and a few other places. The Church has been decimated. Still, the only Church of any size is now the High Church (which is underwater).

(more…)

Party Roster:
Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Jeff
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Alduin, 8th level thief, 39 hp, played by Vic
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 8th level druid, 37 hp, played by Jeremy
Albee, 5th level monk, 31 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 3rd level fighter, 31 hp, henchman
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 5th level illusionist, 9 hp, played by Aaron
When we last left the Defenders, they had just defeated one old enemy, the will’o’wisp. Almost immediately, the means arrived to defeat another. The Baron had ordered a one-shot item that removed all scents from the user for about 24 hours. It could be used on up to 8 people.
This gave us the opportunity to destroy the gnolls.
Our interest in the Khargish ruins had once again attracted our most successful thief, Alduin, back to the party. Alduin had gained 7th level and then read the Manual of Stealthy Pilfering in the meantime, gaining 8th level and a total of 39 hp.
[Out of character: The triumphant return of Vic!]

(more…)

Party Roster:
Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 6th level cleric, 43 hp, played by Jeff
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 8th level druid, 37 hp, played by Jeremy
Albee, 5th level monk, 31 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 3rd level fighter, 31 hp, henchman
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 4th level illusionist, 8 hp, played by Aaron
The party was bored, and that meant we had to kill something.
We settled for kidnapping an orcish “priest” or so we hoped. After waiting for a few days, our crack strike team of Morgan, Kain, and Donald spotted a large group burying two orcs that had been executed in front of the gravesite earlier in the day. Kain and Donald were hiding, and Morgan was invisible as he snuck up on the orcs. He spotted a holy symbol on the leader orc, and gave the ok by turning visible. The orcs turned and promptly all but the leader fell asleep, thanks to Donald. Before Morgan could have any fun (he had a Silence spell with him to ruin any screams or warnings), Kain Held the leader, and the battle was over without beginning. We Levitated the orcs and dragged them back to the party.
On the second Charm Monster we managed to “persuade” the orc that we were hired by the orcs to ferret out a traitor in the temple complex. We then discovered that we had badly underestimated the power of the complex. It apparently contains the high priests of all four major orcish religions and would likely have servants of the deities, even though many of the high level priests had been slaughtered by Dunstill and Illic at the harbor during the previous mission.

(more…)