Five Wands - Turn 1.8

Spelljammer	Seas of Fate
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Current Turn?	No	Subject:	Followers in the Dungeon
Campaign:	Greyhawk	Turn Start Date:	9/4/597
Adventure:	Seas of Fate	Turn End Date:	9/4/597
Adventure Number:	AAJ	Characters:	Barthon Brightwave, Darkthorn, Dyson Teague, Kalin, Lorcan Smythe, Orielne, Wiley Finch
Turn Number:	1.8	Send To:	fivewands@championsoftheempire.com; dntimm@gmail.com; mghaught@gmail.com
Greyhawk Campaign?	Yes	Combat Turn?	No

Name	Lethal	NL	Current	END	PROT	LOW	DEF	ROF	Flash	Heal	Luck Pts	Fate Pts
Benick Tallwood	0	0	42/42	/0	5	0	26	0	0/0	1/day	1/2	1/1
Drogo Featherfoot	42	0	15/57	/0	6	3	52	12	0/0	1/day	2/3	2/2
Erendriel Adgwyn	13	0	25/38	/2	7	3	39	2	0/0	1/day	1/2	1/1
Folis Kaylor	34	0	9/43	/0	5	0	40	0	0/0	1/day	1/2	0/1
Kano	64	3	-1/66	0/8	5	2	43	8	0/0	2/day	2/2	1/1
Quent Werlin	33	0	36/69	6/6	7	0	43	8	0/0	1/day	0/1	0/0
Lanita Stanmore	35	0	11/46	/0	4	1	28	0	0/1	1/day	1/1	0/0
Rufus	19	0	66/85	6/6	5	0	60	10	0/0	3/day	2/2	1/1

Mage/Psioncist Name	Psionic Pts	Spell Pts	Spell Pool	Miscellaneous Information
Benick Tallwood	/	9/12	7/17
Folis Kaylor	/	9/9	/
Rufus	4/7	17/17	/

Name	Notes
Benick Tallwood	Invisible
Drogo Featherfoot	1 quart badly improvised bucket
Erendriel Adgwyn
Folis Kaylor
Kano	31' of improvised rope
Quent Werlin	3 gallon improvised bucket
Lanita Stanmore	Cleric Pool (11/11)
Rufus

01/26/2023 (GM-Steve)

GM: We took a break from the characters in the Dark Forest to focus on the followers who were languishing in the dungeons under the cloud giant's castle after Tempest's warriors took possession of the Sea Ghost.

Rufus, a blink dog, has been in the castle for a few days. He is unsure how he arrived but knows that fate had a hand in his appearance here and that he must try to discover where his fate will take him.

GM: Wiley rolled a blink dog follower and it will be Rufus once they meet.

Rufus was there when Drogo and Quent were brought in a few days ago, the only apparent survivors of an attack on an airship by Tempest's elite jann troops. Then, yesterday after capturing the Sea Ghost, the others were brought here. Captain Merrick and the crew of the Sea Ghost are apparently being held elsewhere.

Rufus has been running around the dungeon for the past few days. There are a number of mongrel dogs and feral cats who keep the rat and mice population in check and the jann largely ignore them. Rufus has been able to pass as a mongrel dog by looking unkempt and acting the part.

A day after the prisoners from the Sea Ghost were brought in, Rufus chases a couple of rats through the open doors of the cell block area, past three guards near the entrance and back to the cell blocks in the back. He looks over some of the prisoners who largely ignore him except for Quent, who wonders if there is more to the dog and meets the eye. As a human in the dark cell, he can barely make out the dog but he is certain it is a dog.

Rufus moves across to the another cell block where Benick and Erendriel are being held is separate cages that are cruelly small for them. Both are high elves. Rufus sniffs both. There is something about Beno (Benick) that makes him wonder if he is in some way related to his fate. Rufus heads to the last cell where Kano is held and then returns to Beno. He scratches into the dirt to try to tell the elf that there are three guards. After some initial stops and starts, Beno eventually realizes that the dog is actually of human intelligence and can apparently understand everything he says. Rufus cannot speak any human languages but understands Aerdi fluently.

Communication gets better with practice and, with Beno mainly asking questions that Rufus can answer with nods and quiet barks, Beno learns that the dog is there to eventually help them but, at this time, sees no point in helping them escape since they have no way off the cloud where the castle is situated.

Rufus gives them hope of eventual escape by his very presence and then departs to try to find a way off of the cloud.

Meanwhile, Erendriel has separately come to the same conclusion. When she was taken prisoner, she managed to hide a couple of lock picks on her person that were not discovered by the guards. In the hours spent in the dirty cell, Erendriel was able to quietly try her picks and, though it took a number of attempts, eventually got to the point where she could unlock and relock her cell with ease. She now knows that she can get out any time but, with no safe place to hide in the castle on the cloud, she remains where she is for the time being. Perhaps if the smart canine finds someplace where they can go, she can open her cell and probably those of the others as well. Certainly she would assist Beno, Kano and Folis. In the same cell block with Folis are a human and a halfling that she doesn't know but, if Folis were to vouch for them, she could spring them as well.

GM: I meant to go into the above last night after realizing that Erendriel was a thief but forgot. Basically, she can open her own cell when the time comes and will have bonuses to open the other cells.

GM: I awarded 1500 EXP to each of the 6 followers. Dennis, please add 1500 EXP for Rufus in his spreadsheet as well.

03/30/2023 (GM-Steve)

Rufus the blink dog came rushing into the cell where Beni and Erendriel are located and scratched a message in the dirt that they must escape now! Then he went running back out. Erendriel quickly opened up her cell using her lockpicks, something she had practiced before for just this situation. Then she rushed over to Beni's cell to pick the lock there.

Meanwhile, Rufus had rushed back to the guard's desk. He leaped up and grabbed the ring of keys off the hook with his mouth and started back to the cells. The guards almost didn't notice until they heard a slight tinkle of the keys. Rufus rushed to the cells, followed by the jann, and tossed the keys into the southern cell block. By this time, Erendriel was attempting to pick the lock to Drogo's cell. Beni picked up the keys and started trying them on Quent's cell.

By this time, the jann had almost reached the cell block. Rufus used his dimension door ability to teleport behind them and started barking. The Jann turned around and chased after him, without noticing that he no longer had the keys and also without noticing that Erendriel and Beni were no longer in their cells. Rufus led them all the way back to the door and then used his second (of three) dimension door abilities to teleport back to the southern cell. By this time, Beni had freed Quent and, shortly thereafter, Drogo. Erendriel had a dagger concealed in her boot and gave it to Drogo to use. Drogo went across to the northern cell block to keep watch while Quent kept watch from the southern cell block.

A couple of rounds went by as the jann seemed to be discussing what to do next. Beni was able to free Kano but was seen when he crossed the passage to free Lanita. The jann rushed forward, right past Quent and Drogo who were able to make surprise attacks that completely failed to hit. The battle began. Kano moved up to engage the lead jann while Quent and Drogo attacked the second one.

Drogo, Quent and Kano managed to score some minor hits using the dagger (Drogo) and brawling skill (Quent and Kano). Beni freed Lanita from the cell and also from the bracer that prevented spell casting. He also removed his own bracer.

Rufus managed to convince Erendriel and Folis to follow him to the guard station and open a closet door. Inside was a lot of gear probably taken from prisoners over the ages and forgotten. They started looking for useful weapons. Erendriel found a nice helmet, her magical short bow and a short sword on a very small weapon's belt (Drogo the halfling's). She also found Folis' magical longsword. Folis found his shield and a nice hand axe (Drogo's). They went running back with their finds. Once the group was able to get better weapons, the battle went much better. Drogo gave the dagger to Quent and used his short sword. Folis stepped in with his longsword. Rufus went to help Kano while Beni began casting energy bolts.

The battle turned and the jann were quickly defeated, but not before Kano was very badly wounded. Everyone except Drogo and Lanita have some wounds, many from damage inflicted by the guards during their incarceration.

The group quickly grabs the shields and oversized scimitars of the guards and rushes to the storage locker. They grab their stuff and other equipment that looks useful (aided by power perception from Beni and Folis). They flee the dungeon. Rufus leads them down a twisting passage and through a door where they are likely to have a few minutes respite. They quickly don their armor and re-equip their weapons. Kano asks about healing and Lanita replies that she can cast magical healing.

GM: This is where we stopped for the night.

GM: The group found the following in the storage closet:

Drogo's +1 short sword and +1 hand axe.
Erendriel's +2 short bow
Quent's +2 helm
Folis' +1 longsword
All the normal armor and weapons that the followers had on them.

GM: They also found the following. I put names next to who I think can probably benefit the most from them but feel free to change things up.

A magical shield (SR) -Drogo
A magical staff - Beni
A set of magical leather armor - Kano
A magical broadsword - Kano
A magical longsword - Quent
A magical mace - Lanita
A dusty bedroll that radiates magic at level 2 on a scale of 1 to 2

GM: I awarded 1500 EXP for last night. I gave the level 2 character (Kano and Lanita) and extra 500 to help them catch up a little with the other characters.

GM: Quent is the only one with Armor and Weapon Lore. I am going to just say that he is able to come up with good guesses about the stuff you found. The exception is the bedroll, which would require artifact lore (which no one has).

GM: He might even know something about the magical staff, if he makes a good weapon lore roll.

Quent Staff: [rolled 16, FAILURE - You know nothing about the item]

GM: The other items are: +1 SR shield (Drogo), +2 leather armor (Kano), +2 broadsword (Kano), +1 longsword (Quent), and +1 mace (Lanita)

04/06/2023 (GM-Steve)

After donning the armor they found in the storage room, and equipping their weapons, Lanita casts a pair of cure light wound spells on Kano. Drogo, listening at the outer door, whispers that he hears jann out there looking around. The group quickly moves out the other door and looks into a few doors that they find. One leads into a refuse filled room where Kano finds a black, shoulder-slung pouch with a silver buckler. It looks like it has been there for a long time but cleans up easily. Kano unbuckles the pouch. Inside are three potion bottles. Two are labelled while the third may have once been but the tag is no longer there. The first says "potion of extra healing" while the second says "potion of hill giant strength". Kano puts the potions back in the bag, buckles it and then slings the bag over his shoulder.

The group remains in the refuse filled room for a few more minutes. No more sounds of searching reach their ears so they depart and continue searching the maze of disused rooms and corridors. Many of the rooms and passages are empty except for the dust and debris of ages. They find a locked door that Erendriel is unable to immediately open. She comes back to it a couple of times before she is finally able to open it. Inside is a room that has less debris than most. A deep pit spans the chamber cutting the room in two. On the far side of the pit is a chest. Spanning the pit is a rickety looking plank. Drogo the halfling crosses it safely but the chest is locked and looks to heavy for him to carry, much less trust to the rickety plank. Erendrial comes over but is not successful in picking the difficult lock.

The group finds lots of empty rooms including a massive room that was probably once used for combat training, based on the three large sand pits in the chamber. They also find a room with a chest and a magical tapestry showing 5 armed and armored jann sitting at a table playing cards. They get a bad feeling about this room, heightened by an inconclusive augury spell cast by Lanita, and promptly depart. Another room has a trap door in the floor. They leave it alone for now, noting it as a possible place to move to another level of the dungeon. They also find a small room with a well. They can hear the water below but they have no rope and no bucket to reach the water.

Opening one door, they see three giant rats who appear to be guarding the door. They decide not to pass through and quickly close it. Then they find a room with lots of debris, as well as slime, fungi and mushrooms. Some suggested leaving it alone but Drogo, who is a halfling who really likes food, said that some of the mushrooms might be edible. He entered the room with Kano and spotted some likely looking mushrooms. But then a massive spider climbs out of the debris and attacks. Kano and Drogo fight back while Erendriel, Folis and Quent move up. Another, smaller spider appears from the shadows in the back of the room and shoots webs at Drogo, which he successfully blocks with his shield. Then the big spider bites Kano and injects him with a deadly poison. Kano's body manages to resist the worst of it but, within seconds, he is feeling disoriented. By the end of the round, he has collapsed to the ground. By this time, Quent has moved up to assist and Erendrial has moved around to assist Drogo with the web-shooting spider. Two more such spiders can be see approaching from the far corner of the room.

GM: This is where we stopped for the night.

GM: I awarded 2000 exp to the second level characters (Bennick, Lanita and Kano) and 1500 to the rest. Rufus can also have 1500.

04/13/2023 (GM-Steve)

The battle against the spiders ended with all of the spiders dead and Folis also infected with poison but to a much lesser extent (even though he failed his save and Kano had made is). The group eventually reasons out that it takes time for the spider's venom to fully restore and so Folis got a much less lethal dose.

Rufus guards the door while Lanita casts Slow Poison on both Kano and Folis. This causes Kano to come around. He is still disoriented (and badly wounded) but is able to walk and talk.

Then Rufus hears the chittering of rats in the corridor. The group closes the door. Rufus continues to listen while others search the giant spider nest and find some coins and a couple other valuable items. Then there is a whispered voice from the other side of the door asking if the group had escaped the jann cells. The voice is female. Kano answers yes and the voice curses slightly.

They open the door and see a disheveled and somewhat dirty young woman standing there wearing a leather vest, tunic and boots. She has a weapons belt but her short sword and dagger are currently in her hands. With her is a giant rat of unusual size and three other giant rats. They seem to be pets of the woman.

She enters and they have a quick discussion. She tells them that if they escaped the cells then the jann will soon mount an large search of the dungeons and they need to get out of here quickly. Since the group clearly does not know a way out, the girl, who introduces herself as Drusella, says she can lead them to temporary shelter where the jann won't find them.

She leads them back through the dungeons to the first room they had discovered, with a statue of a demon in one corner and tapestries on the wall. She flicks aside the tapestry behind the demon revealing a concealed door. She opens the door. Inside is a 5 foot square closet with some sort of magical portal in the middle.

"The jann don't know about this," Drusella tells them.

It is a tight fit for some to squeeze past the demon statue and through the door, but eventually everyone has entered and stepped through the portal. Drusella goes last making sure the tapestry is back in place and the door closed.

Stepping through the portal leads to a rocky beach. A couple of the group lose their footing on the slippery rocks but eventually everyone is through. There is a portal on this side as well that Drusella tells them leads back to the one they just stepped through.

Drusella leads the way to the shore where a narrow path leads into the trees and up the side of a mountain, switch backing back and forth as it climbs. They learn that they are on a heavily forested island about a mile or so in diameter with a single mountain dominating the island. After about 30 minutes of hiking, the path ends in a small clearing in front of a cave. There is an old fire pit in the clearing and the cave would be tight for 8 people but comfortable for a couple. Drusella tells the group she comes here from time to time to get away from the dungeon.

The group stays for a couple of days, hunting and foraging for food on the island, and cleaning up under a small waterfall. They learn a little more about Drusella but not a lot. She does not seem to have a lot of interest in accompanying the group in the dungeon because she doesn't think they will find a way out. She is interested in eventually leaving the dungeon if the group can reunite with the Sea Ghost owners. She is originally from Saltmarsh.

The group suspects that there is more to Drusella than meets the eye. Some suspect she might actually be a wererat. She has lived in the jann dungeon for 8 years or so and has rats as pets and guards. She tells them a little of the dungeon, letting them know of an ancient temple that exists in one corner of the dungeon that she has never been to. She also seldom visits the south side of the dungeon where she tells them that undead can often be found.

Two days later, the group is not fully healed but is feeling much better. Both Kano and Folis are fully recovered by the venomous bite of the giant spider.

They return to the portal. Drusella enters first, telling the group to give her an hour to make sure the jann have finished their search. She comes back within the hour and gives the all clear.

The group had asked about locked rooms in the dungeon and Drusella tells them of one. She leads them to it and Erendriel is able to pick the lock. She failed to notice the trap, which was a poison-coated needle trap but fortunately the poison had long since faded in potency to the point that she just suffer a painful prick of the needle.

The room beyond was largely empty but, written on the east wall, in Aerdi, were the words "The thief will betray you!. The group searches the room and Erendriel (using Locate Secret Opening) notices a secret cache in the floor under the words. Removing a stone revealed a small hole containing a wooden box. Inside the box were three potions of extra healing.

GM: This is where we stopped for the night.

GM: I awarded 1500 exp to all and an extra 500 to Beni, Kano and Lanita since they are lower level.

04/20/2023 (GM-Steve)

GM: The group had found a magical bedroll in the closet where they also found their gear. The group spent 2 nights on Drusella's island. Would someone have used the bedroll and, if so, who?

GM: Kano volunteered to use it. When he climbed into the bedroll and fell asleep, no one was able to awaken him though he seemed to be sleeping well. Those on watch continued to try to waken him every 30 minutes or so, to no avail. It was not until about 3 hours later that someone was able to awaken him and he reported feeling much better. All of his wounds were healed and even the after effects of the spider poison were gone. Thus, another injured person used the bedroll after that and, in this manner, everyone was fully healed when the group re-entered the dungeon two days later. The downside seems to be that the sleeping person absolutely cannot be awakened until they are fully healed.

GM: Another thing that we resolved was fashioning rope and a bucket. Those with Survival skill have an Improvise task they could use for this purpose while those with Rope Mastery have a Make Rope task. Those with both could get some benefit from both skills in the normal manner (use the higher of the Improvise or Make Rope skill rolls and then add +2 for each rank of the other skill). The group made a 31 foot rope. Quent made a very nice, 3 gallon bucket that can be tied to the rope. Drogo made a 1 quart bucket that leaks a bit that can also be tied to the rope.

The group parted ways with Drusella with her asking for someone to come get her if they find a way back to civilization. They returned to the last door before the public passage near the cell block. Erendril and Drogo went up to the door and Erendriel quietly opened it to see what was out there. Unfortunately she was not as quiet as she had hoped to be. There were four jann in the hallway, apparently patrolling. They spotted Erendriel. She reacted very quickly, bolting through the door and circling around behind the jann to prevent them from running away and raising the alarm. Drogo was a little slower but still managed to get through the door and block the other way. Then battle was joined.

Two more jann showed up, coming through the door behind Erendriel. Only one was able to attack. The other stood for a bit and then turned and bolted, apparently in an attempt to raise the alarm. Rufus was able to use his Dimension Door ability to get behind him and chase him down. The jann gave up trying to warn others and fought with Rufus.

While most of the group were fighting the original four jann, Erendriel was in battle with the other one who had come through the door. Then she backed away so she could better use her bow. He did not follow but instead turned and ran through the door, probably to raise the alarm. Quent was able to chase after him. He went a different direction than the first jann. Quent caught up with him down a long, dark hallway, still in sight of the door. He fought the jann but was hampered by the darkness. Eventually Lanita was able to throw her stick with the Lantern spell on it into the doorway, which provided sufficient light for both battles.

GM: When we stopped for the night, the battle was still ongoing. Kano is badly wounded while 2 of the 6 jann are dead and 2 more are very badly wounded. The other 2 are wounded but not yet bloodied.

GM: I awarded 1500 EXP for the night (plus 500 to the 2nd and 3rd level characters).

04/27/2023 (GM-Steve)

With only 4 jann left, the battle continued. When there was only one jann remaining who was fighting Rufus, he turned a ran. Quent chased after him quickly followed by the rest of the group. They didn't catch him but did run into a couple of zombie-like creatures who attacked them. One of them hit Folis and paralyzed him. Drogo and Quent then finished them off. Other than the ability to paralyze, they were not particularly difficult combatants.

They could hear the sounds of battle in the direction that the jann had run and hoped that he was being overwhelmed by undead. The group retreated a bit and decided that they needed to get all of the jann bodies out of the main hall.

Folis was unconscious and paralyzed but Lanita cast a cure light wound spell on him and the paralysis wore off shortly thereafter.

Erendriel moved forward in the direction the jann had run to see what had happened. She saw another zombie. It also saw her and came in her direction. She fired a couple of shots at it and then she and Drogo finished it off. No one was hit or paralyzed.

The group got all of the bodies out of the main hall and closed the door. They checked out a nearby door and found stairs leading up, with jann voices coming from above. They quickly and quietly closed the door.

Another room was overrun with rats. Beyond another door, they found a deserted room with a tapestry hanging on the wall. Kano looked behind it and was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming desire to eat. For the next several minutes, he consumed all of the food the group had saved from their hunting and foraging on the island, even the good berries. After that, he calmed down but is feeling lethargic from all of the food he ate.

The next room was a bit more difficult to enter. One door appeared to be magically sealed and another was locked with a lock too difficult to Erendriel to open. Lanita cast a silence spell on Drogo's hand axe and he made short work of the wood around the lock, allowing Kano to force open the door. Inside, Kano saw the heads of four demons mounted on four separate plaques hanging on the east wall. He quickly backed away.

GM: This is where we stopped for the night.

GM: I make a bit of an error. Folis, being a high elf, was actually supposed to be immune to the paralyzation of the undead attacker. To make up for this error, and to account for the fact that it was a difficult battle that led to a second battle, I awarded 3000 exp to everyone. I am also going to say that Kano's lethargy from viewing the hunger glyph passes quickly and will not be an issue next session.

05/04/2023 (GM-Steve)

The group decides not to investigate the demon head room and instead heads south. They encounter the body of the jann who had fled earlier and was apparently killed by the zombies. They also encounter the zombies and at least one higher level, zombie-like creature but the group defeats them all without much difficulty. Then they search around. The body of the jann reveals a few coins. They also find a ladder leading up to a shelf near the ceiling. The shelf appears empty but when Eredriel runs her hand over the shelf she encounters an invisible dagger. Quent recalls once hearing of an invisible dagger that, once attuned, can cause the wielder to turn invisible while the dagger becomes visible.

Then the group decides what to do next. They want to get to the area that Drusella indicated led to an old temple but they have not found a way there without traveling the main passages where jann might be encountered. Folis suggests that Lanita perform an Augury. Lanita agrees and she "casts the bones" while others look on. She interprets the meaning to be along the lines of "the path forward leads back to the beginning". Significant in the cast is the three of the "bones" scattered a bit further than expected and seem to be pointing at Drogo, Folis and Quent. The groups lists out things that the three have in common - all fighters, all male, all use swords. Then Beni asks what cell the three of them were in when the group was in the dungeon. As it turns out, the three were all in the same cell block. The group wonders if there might be a secret door in the cell block that leads to the temple area. They also recall the storage closet there filled with junk and wonder if there might be more items of use there.

The group returns to the door leading out to the main passage. They bring the ladder with them as it might be useful. Beni casts Invisibility on both Drogo and Erendriel and then, with Erendriel in the lead, the two head out through the door. Lanita gives Drogo her magical light stick, which the halfling conceals under his clothing to remain dark. Both Erendreil and Drogo have infravision.

The two make it to the cell block and find it empty. There are no other prisoners there and no guards. They open doors and find more cell blocks but no other exits. Erendriel returns to get the rest of the group while Drogo takes a quick look down the main passage and around the next corner. He sees no one.

The group regroups in the cell block. Their first action is to the search the storage closet. They find mostly useless, broken, torn and tattered junk but find a few useful items such as a couple of backpacks, a coil of rope, three waterskins, a couple of still-usable blankets, etc. They also find a more valuable items that Beni confirms are magical, including:

Pair of bracers (Beni)
Large round shield (Kano)
Halfing-sized leather armor (Drogo)
Reinforced leather armor that seems ideally suited a female elf (Erendriel)
Two handed sword (Quent)
Silver and ruby charm (Lanita)
Dog collar (Rufus)

GM: I did something a bit different with the closet. Instead of using the list of items I had previously decided on, I let each player say what they wanted to find and then make a LUCK roll to see how good the item was. Folis can decide what magic item he would like to find and roll his LUCK roll, either by email or during the next session.

Then the group headed back to the cell block where Drogo, Folis and Quent had been held. They look for a secret door on the back wall between the cages and it is Quent who finds it. Rufus hears jann entering the cell block area down the hall and the group quickly goes through the secret door and closes it behind them.

The room they are in also contains lots of cages but they are empty. The area does not look to have been entered for a long time. Another door leads to a long cloak room filled with tattered clerical robes and cloaks hanging on wooden pegs or lying on the floor. A door at the end leads to an area where lesser acolytes would sleep but is inhabited by a zombie and a skeleton, both of which are quickly destroyed. Another room leads to the chamber of a higher level priest and there an ominous-looking dagger is found. Quent once again recognizes the weapon as a dagger known as Bloodlust that is often used by evil priests during bloodletting rituals for its ability to enhance blood loss from a wound.

The next room is a large preparation room but a thorough search reveals nothing of interest.

GM: This is where we stopped for the night. I awarded 1500 EXP for the session.

05/11/2023 (GM-Steve)

In the next room, the group encounters a zombie, a couple of ghouls and a horrid stench that causes many to gag as they are fighting the ghouls. Both Quent and Kano are temporarily paralyzed but the ghouls are both defeated with relative ease. In the next room, they find a portal.

Since there were a couple of doors they hadn't opened yet, they investigated those. One was locked and trapped. Erendriel triggered the trap and took some damage but it was a poison trap where the poison had long since deteriorated so it was just some damage. Then she failed multiple times to open the lock. While waiting to try again, the group found the main temple, which was badly deteriorated but probably dedicated to devil worship of some sort.

Erendriel tried the locked door again but failed. She wanted to think about it and try again in 10 minutes so she and Drogo used that time to go find Drusella and tell her they had a way out. Drusella accompanied them back to the temple.

Erendriel finally succeeded in opening the door, finding a decayed bedroom with once opulent furnishings. A search revealed a locked chest under the bed, but the lock was badly rusted and the wood decayed. Drogo used his hand axe to bash in the lock. Inside the chest were hundreds of coins, mostly silver. Counting them later revealed about 900 silver and 15 gold.

Then Erendriel and Drogo stepped through the portal. Finding it safe, they stepped back the let the group know all was well.

Beyond the portal was a decayed building with a missing door and a doorway that led outside. It was dark but it was the typical darkness of the elemental planes.

A short distance away was a large stone platform with an arch on it. Also visible on the platform were some zombies but they did not leave the platform. An ancient trail led around the platform. The group followed it finding more archways on one side and the crumbling ruins of small towers on the other side of the platform. There also seemed to be a least a dozen or more skeletons and zombies. They walked all the way around the massive platform. On the far side, they found an ancient trail that seemed to lead down off the mostly flat hilltop where the ancient temple was located.

Back at the starting point, the group heard a woman scream from somewhere on the platform. Rufus thought the scream did not seem quite that of a woman and Drogo was certain it wasn't. As the group was contemplating what to do next, a voice called out "Come!" Drogo promptly started walking to the steps leading up to the platform. However, Quent grabbed his arm and prevented him from continuing. It was a Command spell and wore off the following round. The group decided to make haste departing. They went back to the other side of the platform and followed the ancient trail down the hill.

An hour later, they came to an ideal campsite. It was a roomy cave with a hot spring inside, some berry bushes growing nearby and even a couple of fruit trees. As the group was setting up camp, a falcon flew in and dropped a scroll in Lanita's hand. The falcon was Shadow, Darkthorn's pet. The scroll asked how the group was doing. The group waited until morning to answer. At that time they had a better view of the surrounding mountains and hills and found that they were in a land with exaggerated geographical features. The mountains seemed impossibly high, the hills incredibly green and grassy, with numerous trees and bushes. In some ways, it seemed like paradise but there was also an ominous feeling to it. Lanita, who had been on the Sea Ghost after it had been captured, said that the island where the Sea Ghost was moored look like this and suspected they were on the same island - and a very large island at that. No sea was visible.

The group answered the scroll to that effect and Lanita used a Messenger spell to send Shadow back to Darkthorn.

The group made decent progress that day, following the ancient path where they saw it but more just following the path of least resistance in a downward direction. They spent a couple of hours heading towards a dead end and having to backtrack. Their camp that evening was adequate but not as good as the previous night.

Their camp the following night was the same one because they spent half the day walking in a direction that turned out to lead nowhere and had to backtrack. But on the next day, Kano, who had some experience hiking in mountains, was inspired and found a way down that, by noon, put them in sight of the sea and, by the end of the day, put them on a hilltop overlooking a harbor in which the Sea Ghost and one other larger ship was docked. There were some buildings on the shore and jann could be seen walking around. It was about a mile and a half from the hilltop where they stood.

GM: This is where we stopped for the night.

GM: I awarded 3000 EXP for the night for escaping the dungeon. Everyone can also choose 1 stat that is currently at 17 or less and I will raise it 1 point. If you choose CHA, I will raise it 2 points.

05/18/2023 (GM-Steve)

Shadow showed up again with another message from Darkthorn that dropped into Lanita's hand. It said that they had a way out of their trap and knew the location of a gate that would take them right to the Sea Ghost. However, the gate was likely to be guarded. A couple of communications (and Messenger spells via Shadow later) and they had the workings of a plan. The followers would attempt to take back the Sea Ghost from the jann guards visible on the ship and dock area. Meanwhile, the main group would attack the jann guards at the portal and attempt to come through.

GM: The battles would be simultaneous. We ran the first 7 rounds of the dock battle tonight. Folis is unconscious, Kano is very badly wounded and Drogo is badly wounded.

GM: Next session we will run the main group battle to catch them up.

GM: I awarded 1500 exp for last night.