Bushels of GPs

So Mat's fortune cookie from lunch before the game said something about "you will gain gold pieces by the bushel." In real life. Really. So he paper clipped it to Wikipedia Jones' character sheet.

Since arriving from the underdark, the party has put forth a continual effort to learn and map the features and settlements on the surface. Because of the great number of unknowns and the changing political landscape, there have been a lot of surprise discoveries and the unexpected seems to be the norm.

One assumption was that the dragons and their forces had subjugated the humans to the point of not having any standing cities centuries ago. A small settlement of about 1,500 was just discovered. "City" is pretty far from being the word for it though, and "human" is a term best used loosely.

Scouting from the air on one of Rholain's giant mosquitos, Hadji was the first to spot the humans below, scurrying in and out of shabby ruined buildings and mustering a militia to defend their city wall. By the time he brought the party over on more of their flying mounts, the Dragon Empire was pouring troops into the middle of the northern town from a fissure near the foothills of the snowmelt river, right next to the central footbridge.

Swooping down, the party caught the invaders by surprise and did not let up. No wall could have defended against the Dragon Empire's tactics, and this was a mismatch. With better numbers and position, an elder black dragon, an ice devil and lots of trained forces, the Dragon Empire was about to swat down what little the humans had built up. The humans had archers and some dwarven and half orc allies, but poor training and no hard units. Until the Uprisers literally swooped in.

Everybody just did their thing. Jorel was in four places at once, popping away when attacked and punishing foes from seemingly everywhere and nowhere. Rholain pretty much became a swarm of bees that created a no win situation for opponents whether they attacked him or not, inviting attacks of opportunity that in themselves were punishing trap attacks, and moving away unscathed beyond the pair of teleportation trees that proved quite helpful for party mobility on the city streets. Shamash focused on attacking slightly weaker opponents than usual in order that his abilities would consistently bolster his allies. Aurora set herself right down in the middle of the dragon empire's core troops and turned the power of Pelor on them, blotting them out with blinding light in a 30' radius that left her standing alone in the street. Willikers, in opposite fashion, stuck to the shadows and struck with showers of daggers, dishing out more damage than his enemies could handle - starting with the Elder Black Dragon himself (I used my Diablo action figure for him and it worked great). Paired with Hadji, the double team combo of strikers knocks enemies cold and just pulls their guts out faster than a dozen soldiers could. It's an amazing thing. Meanwhile, Wikipedia Jones shot up the bad guys from afar and shouted encouragement to the surviving local soldiers - largely archers behind boarded up windows.

After a time, the black dragon was defeated, then the ice devil. From there, it was not super easy but the party tipped the balance. Everybody just kept doing what they were best at, and in the end it was more than their enemies could handle. With their draconic commanders dead and the bulk of their minion guards as well, the remaining Dragon Empire troops had no choice but to surrender to Jones in the end. Though well trained in the Koa-Toa fighting arts, these Dragonborn were smart enough to know a good offer when they heard one. Their cruel masters lay dead and an offer to cure their zombie rot was on the table, if they would help the humans rebuild their city. Shamash threated to cut down any who double-crossed Jones on the terms of the truce, but there was not really any need for threats. The battle was over in any case.

Experience: 3,500 (I think we should be closing in on 80,000 xp each total now or so)
Treasure: one 17th level magic item (plus don't forget last session 18th level items went out). Plus 5,532 GP worth of monetary treasure, and one building per character within the city limits. To generate regular income with his building, Shamash set up a trading post downstairs with an apartment above.

The city is just on the edge of the northern range of the trade routes currently being established, and is near the base of mountains. Their main exports are lumber, leatherwork and beef. The humans call the town Cosmopolis because all races are welcome there so long as they obey basic town laws, enforced by the citizenry and defended by militia. It's basically a fantasy version of a cowboy town, and there are some smaller settlements in the outlying areas.

Next session: Saturday, July 31 at 3 pm.

Shoppin' Trip

The party went to Aquatown (secret undersea Gnome city of wizards) to buy magic items and establish trade routes. By all accounts the expedition was routine and successful, if you can call anything involving gnomish submarines routine.

Trusty 'ol Sticky Fingers stumbled upon a gang of Starspawn in the run down part of town, while looking to expand his nefarious network of rogues. The party joined him.

After a long battle the evil Starspawn were defeated. Aurora, Wikipedia Jones, Shamash Kriv and Dreana made sure everyone was up on their hit points throughout the battle - in fact no one was even bloodied as a result. Hadji, Foxy and Fingers concentrated on dishing out damage. Jones then magically reduced the ruins of a large building from the stars, and put it in his pack.

Experience: 3,000

Treasure: 5,000 GP

Notes: Aquatown has full availability of magic items that are hard to find in other areas. Also, aquatic related items such as Hat of Water Breathing can be found if roleplaying in the city at half the prices in the books.