So, Jaramon was defeated last session, captured alive. Joseph (Robby's 6th level cleric) was determined to bring this horrible villian to justice through retribution by the authority of the church of St. Cuthbert. Taito (Carson's monk) had put Jaramon unconcious with a sleeper hold. Gradually, the transmuter's spell effects wore off: protection from arrows, invisibility, protection from good, fly, spider climb, silence (which Joseph had targetted on him earlier in the encounter) were the main ones. After a poison acid needle in Jaramon's cloak of resistance did 18 points of damage to Joseph, Lance's rogue "clubmaster" was called in to deal with the rest of his articles of clothing and equipment, which included a circlet (metal headband) with a spring-loaded gem that activated teleport to any of 10 random rooms within Jaramon's chambers, a +2 longsword, a +2 composite longbow, an amulet of armor +1, bracers of armor +2, a ring of protection +1, and a wand of baleful polymorph. Monetary treasure equalled about 10,000 gp for each player and npc. The freed captives from the Temple of Transformation numbered about 150 or so, and were still numb from a long period of charm related effects from their captors, and horrendous, cramped conditions. In game terms, they had 5 or 10 hit points each, even those who may have had higher maximums at one time. Some of the women latched on to the paladin and the cleric, seeking meaning and direction. As a group, they expressed great gratitude to the party for their freedom, offering their unwavering allegiance. The party put them to work hauling sculptures, tapestries and any other items of value out of the plush living quarters below the Temple, and armed those capable of fighting with what weapons were available.
A choice presented itself: a secret cavern below Jaramon's quarters led to a network of natural passageways. The party could go back out the top of the temple and fight off the giant lobster-men and the army of moon elves that would likely be arriving soon, or take their chances (along with the freed prisoners) in the caverns. After discussion, the party chose the caverns.
The group worked their way through the caverns for a time, discovering regions of magical side effects and toxins dumped beneath Jaramon's laboratories. Purple magical fogs, strange lights resembling magic missiles going around in circles, acrid sulfury vapors that caused unexplained hair growth and finally an area so black it seemed to devour light itself. Joseph cast a light to cancel out the darkness the drow trading party had cast, triggering a massive encounter. Flegal (Shane's ranger) changed into a vulture (see entry from previous session) and flew over to the far side of the cavern, where he began sniping at drow spellcasters. Also among the enemy were moon elves and mongrelmen, but mostly drow, and a couple of umber hulks. The battle took about two and a half hours of game time. When it was over, the party had slain 47 of the enemy, the enemy had killed about 100 of the low hit point freed prisoners. Enemy area-of effect spells (such as lightning ball) had also killed 20 or so of their own numbers. The party picked up a few unusual new henchmen/followers, a defeated party known as the Ironics, including a sprite fighter, a kobold cleric, a half-ogre rogue, a half-orc wizard and a gnomish ranger. These six (along with the party and 50 refugees bringing up the rear) were among the few survivors of most of the battle, though the half-orc wizard was slain toward the end of it. Six drow surrendered and were the sole survivors on their side. Interrogation revealed that passages to the lower levels of a dwarven mine some miles away could eventually lead out of the caverns. Geena's (Penny's dwarven fighter) stonecunning revealed that the party was about three miles below the surface.
Flegal's tracking ability was called upon a couple of times to guide the party through a capillary network of caves, eventually leading to an enormous underground canyon visible below. An army of drow workers could be seen hauling a 60' iron golem on wheeled planks along the floor of the canyon. By the time their scout/herald arrived to meet the party, each party member had activated their hats of disguise to appear as drow and moon elves, claiming all the others as their slaves and prisoners in order to get past the encounter, as the group was still recovering from the earlier fight. Revan negotiated with the emissary in elvish, offering (as the weaker clan) a gift in exchange for passage. Such trades are common in the underdark, though mutual mistrust comes with the territory. The emmisary asked what clan Revan's group belonged to, where they had come from, and what they had to trade. Since the party had learned that the drow group encountered earlier had been regular traders with Jaramon, Revan told the emmisary that they were with that group, and could offer a sword capable of transmuting its target into a frog as a gift. Phil did not want his half-orc fighter character (Zen) to give up the sword, so he attacked the emmisary. Revan immediately made an excellent diplomacy check to inform the other side that the party was not associated with the attacker. The half-orc scored a critical hit on the emmisary, who failed his saving throw and turned into a frog. Immediately afterward, poison arrows rained on the half orc, slaying him. The drow were given the sword, and the party went on its way.
Later on, the party encountered a group of three hags, and later also killed a couple of bullettes (land sharks). The dwarven mine was located, and the party worked their way to the surface. Meatsville ("Pigtown") was the nearest civilization the party found, a community of about 12,000 (pretty big!) 30 miles southwest of Puquuay ("Trolltown"). It turns out that Pigtown has a lot of hog farming and related industries disliked by the haughty moon elves, who invaded once, then left the area with a truce about a year and a half ago. Also, it is ruled by the royal family of King Biffy XIII, a half-elf who has a castle, a palace and a cathedral. Who is the cathedral to? None other than St. Cuthbert, as it turns out! Jaramon was left there in the care of the local high priest, who plans to keep him in the cruel dungeons for five miserable years as payment for his crime. After that time, Jaramon is to be burned. Pigtown, though a bit stinky, is a relatively safe place for the party to recover for the time being. Local watering holes include the Swine's Heart, the Pig's Eye, and the Sow's Ear, among others.
Next session: April 9th.
No comments:
Post a Comment