| Current Turn? | No |  | Subject: | Ancient Ruin in the Jungle |
| Campaign: | Greyhawk | | Turn Start Date: | 8/20/597 |
| Adventure: | Seas of Fate | | Turn End Date: | 8/26/597 |
| Adventure Number: | AAJ | | Characters: | Barthon Brightwave, Darkthorn, Dyson Teague, Kalin, Lorcan Smythe, Orielne, Wiley Finch |
| Turn Number: | 1.1 | | 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 | |
| Darkthorn | 15 | 0 | 94/109 | /0 | 9 | 3 | 78 | 10 | 0/0 | 4/day | 2/2 | 0/1 | |
| Dyson Teague | 26 | 0 | 69/95 | 2/2 | 10 | 4 | 78 | 14 | 0/0 | 1/day | 1/3 | 0/2 | |
| Kalin | 0 | 0 | 74/74 | /0 | 8 | 3 | 51 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/day | 1/2 | 1/1 | |
| Lorcan Smythe | 38 | 0 | 26/64 | 6/8 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0/1 | 1/day | 1/2 | 1/1 | |
| Wiley Finch | 28 | 0 | 57/85 | /0 | 10 | 4 | 67 | 20 | 0/0 | 1/day | 1/2 | 1/1 | |
| Barthon Brightwave | 37 | 0 | 37/74 | 12/14 | 9 | 4 | 90 | 18 | 0/0 | 1/day | 4/4 | 3/3 | |
| Aeryl Razorfin | 0 | 0 | 83/83 | 8/8 | 4 | 1 | 56 | 10 | 0/0 | 2/day | 2/3 | 0/1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mage/Psioncist Name | Psionic Pts | Spell Pts | Spell Pool | Miscellaneous Information |
| Lorcan Smythe | 4/4 | 9/19 | 13/19 | |
| Wiley Finch | / | 9/21 | 11/11 | |
| Kalin | 14/14 | / | / | |
| Darkthorn | 9/9 | / | / | |
| | | | |
| Name | Notes |
| Darkthorn | Ranger Pool (21/25), 25% DR Crushing, Elemental & Non-Elemental, Mage Armor, Protection from Evil |
| Dyson Teague | Mage Armor |
| Kalin | Cleric Pool (25/25), Mage Armor, Continual Light |
| Lorcan Smythe | Mage Armor |
| Wiley Finch | 25% DR Elemental, Familiar-Cristo, Mage Armor, Invisible |
| Barthon | Magic Points (15/19), Mage Armor |
| Aeryl | Mage Armor |
|
09/15/2022 (GM-Steve)
The group starts their search with Lorcan casting a Detect Magic. Unfortunately, the very air of the city is magical and the binary nature of the Detect Magic spell makes it useless since, when he uses it, it can't see anything except magic. The group decides they will need to use Power Perception, which has a fraction of the duration, so they will need to only use it when their search finds something that might warrant it.
The group decides to head towards the center of the city and begin their search there. Lorcan uses a Power Perception for the final couple hundred yards towards what the group believes to be the center of the city but they find nothing. Wiley casts a Levitation spell on Darkthorn just as it begins to rain. Darkthorn ascends to see if he can spot any ruins that look more promising than others but doesn't see anything. All he can tells is that some ruins are more intact than others, which the group already noted on their trip towards the center of this ancient city.
They begin to search buildings one by one. By the end of the day, they found only a couple places that warranted a Power Perception but both were false alarms.
The second day is no better. After spending the entire day searching buildings, rooftops, dungeons, ruins, cellars and all manner of debris left over from a city in decay, they find a place to spend the night and camp.
The third day starts no better but, as the group is looking through a mostly ruined great hall, Wiley, on impulse, uses Power Perception on a couple of still standing pillars that Kalin and Aeryl have already walked between and notices a plane of magic that spans the distance between the two pillars. Neither Kalin nor Aeryl noted anything unusual when walking between them.
Lorcan brings up Power Perception and takes a look. The plan of magic radiates magic at level 6 (out of 10). He observes that the magic wavers a bit whenever anyone walks through.
Thinking that this might be what they are looking for, the group turns to the poem/riddle that Godwin provided them with:
A brave hero with magic weapons too,
Sets forth clad in wizard armor.
A ring of power held up to the light,
And an item of clothing fashioned by a charmer.
Set bravely forth to enter the Grieve,
With an elixir of magic ready to aid.
A final enchantment be not forgotten,
A spell of something, cast or prayed.
They try several things, such as holding a ring up to a stick with a Continual Light cast on it, but nothing works. Lorcan posits that maybe the first line might refer to two weapons. The group is skeptical until he points out that Godwin may have heard the poem from someone and written it down wrong thinking the last word was supposed to be "too" when really it should be "two".
They try holding two weapons and passing through. They try casting a Mage Armor spell on someone and passing through. Eventually they try making sure that the person passing through has 2 weapons, magic armor, a magic ring, magic clothing (cloak, cap or boots), a magic potion and a spell cast on them. But that too fails.
Then, in a Flash of Insight, Lorcan realizes that the person who last tried (Wiley) did not, in fact, have two weapons. He actually had more than 2 weapons. So he divests himself of the extra weapons and tries again. But the group quickly realizes that phrases such as "a ring of power" and "an elixir of magic" might also refer to just one of each. So they rid themselves of extra rings, potions, clothing, etc, and try again. Still nothing happens. Finally the group realizes that maybe the riddle is saying that the items in the riddle are the ONLY magic that you can carry through. Kalin volunteers to try so the group makes sure he has 2 weapon (and only 2), some magical armor, a magical ring, magical clothing, a magic potion, and a spell cast on him. He steps through the plane of magic and disappears!
Wiley immediately starts casting a Spell of Location but Kalin reappears within a minute or less. He says that he arrived in an alcove adjoining a room. The room had a long dead body on the floor and a couple of passages leading off. It also had some flames burning that were probably magical. At the back of the alcove was a visible plane of magic and stepping through, Kalin returned.
GM: After this, the group decided to return to Pennerick but not before trying all manner of items to see what qualified. They learned that the second line could refer to a magical shield, magic armor or even Bracers of Protection, but not a Mage Armor spell. The item of clothing could be a cloak, a pair of boots or a hat, but not a helm or armband. The elixir of magic could be any potion and the final enchantment could be any spell that targeted a person and had a duration.
The group returned to Pennerick where some in the group bought non-magical shields since they would not be able to use their magical ones. They also made sure they had rope and other provisions.
They returned and went through the portal. Aeryl (Kalin's follower) stayed behind since the group did not have any spare magical clothing to get him through.
Once through, they investigated the first room and determined that the dead body on the floor was equipped with a +1 short sword (embedded in his skull), a +1 shield and some sort of magical boots that improved speed. Lorcan removed his own boots and is currently wearing the magical ones.
There are three magical flames burning on pillars on the opposite wall. They are magical and Lorcan detects something "trap-like" about them but is unable to discern anything further.
A couple of boxes contain six stands apparently for hold glass balls found in the second box.
In the next room, the group finds a locked and trapped chest. Dyson gets it open and finds a book labelled "Tome of Cryptic Secrets". This is apparently the book the group is looking for but, as the group is heading towards the other room, Barton says, "I thought the book we were supposed to find was bigger."
The group considers this and realizes that Barthon is correct. They are looking for a book that is 3 ft by 2 ft by 8 inches thick and this book is only about half that size. Clearly it was a diversion.
The group makes it to the other chamber.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night.
09/22/2022 (GM-Steve)
The chamber contains three intact urns that seem to contain water and a broken urn with some oil trapped in the bottom. The oil radiates magic at level 1. Using both Power Perception and Alchemy skill Lorcan believes that the oil is intended to be used on weapons to increase the damage done to elemental creatures. Everyone except Lorcan coats their weapons with the oil, using up most of what is there.
Returning to the entrance chamber, the group tries a few things to open what they suspect is a secret door in the north wall. The most notable attempt was Wiley casting a Spell of Opening, which was intercepted by the central flame and sent back at Wiley as a Firebolt. Finally Kalin suggest putting the glass balls they found over the flames to see what happens. When this is done, there is a rumble and the secret door slowly opens, revealing a broken room that appears to be floating in a strange void of aquamarine mists. The room is sundered in half and there is some debris. On the far side of a chasm are a pair of steps leading up to a railed platform.
As Lorcan is examining the platform with Power Perception, he sees something out of the corner of his eye and is attacked by a large, invisible man with a sword. The man remains invisible throughout the battle and hits almost every time but eventually he is surrounded by Wiley, Barthon, Dyson and Darkthorn. Wiley is able to see him with Witchsight and Darkthorn is usually able to successfully target him with his combination of Blind Fighting and super-human perception. Dyson and Barthon also use their Blind Fighting to get in occasional hits. The invisible man bloodies Darkthorn before Darkthorn is able to get in the final, killing blow, healing himself 10 points with his Life Axe. The man disappears.
Moments later, rocky debris on either side of the room starts moving about. Darkthorn thinks that it is forming in humanoid shapes and believes they may be small earth elementals. Kalin manages to get a single healing spell off on Darkthorn before battle is joined yet again. Lorcan's elemental counterspell turns out to be the most effective weapon against them but he also uses a Torrential Geyser to good effect. The group takes out both of the earth elementals.
Then the braziers in the four corners of the room flare up into flames and shoot out bolts of fire that intersect near the group and a massive fire elemental appears.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night. It took an entire round for the fire elemental to manifest so the group has one free round of actions to prepare for the next battle.
09/29/2022 (GM-Steve)
The group destroyed the fire elemental but several of the group took damage when it became a living fireball.
Then there was a lout noise from the chasm and, a round later, a large water elemental appeared. Dyson was hit with a critical hit for 52 damage and used a Luck point, but the reroll was a grievous. He used a Fate point to force a miss. The following round, it hit Lorcan but then the group managed to destroy it. Barthon's Fire Breath sword was the most effective weapon against the elementals due to its +4 vs extra-planar creatures.
As a wind started to rise, possibly indicating the appearance of yet another elemental attacker, both Lorcan and Kalin thought maybe the group needed to do something or they would be subject to endless attacks. Lorcan used a Wall of Ice in his wand to create a bridge across the chasm. Barthon was the first across followed by Darkthorn and Wiley. On the far side were two sets of steps going up to a podium against the far wall. On the podium was a massive book that fit the description of the Tome of Cryptic Secrets. As the wind intensified, four whirlwinds began to appear in the four corners of the sundered room. Wiley yelled for Barthon to grab the book. Barthon hesitated for a few seconds as the winds intensified and air elementals started forming. Then he grabbed the 100 lb book off the podium. Immediately the winds began to die down and the partially formed whirlwinds evaporated. After a bit, all was quiet in the room.
The group spent some time searching for anything else of value in the room but found nothing. They departed the Grieve and returned to the ruined city in the desert to find that it was late afternoon. They decided to head directly back to Pennerick, and arrived in late evening.
While they were in Lorcan's cabin discussing the books, both the real one and the trapped fake one, Godwin arrived with his two bodyguards. He was happy to see that the group had recovered the book and asked them to tell him the tale of how they retrieved it. Kalin started to do so but wasn't telling a very interesting story (rolled a 6 for his Storytelling so he used a Luck point and rolled a 2) so Lorcan took over (rolled very high for his Storytelling).
The group asked Godwin if he was interested in the fake book and they showed it to him. Godwin examined it without touching it and then said he was not interested and further suggested they dispose of it within the next couple of hours or it was likely to explode. Dyson quickly examined it with his skills and concurred that there was some sort of time-delay trap building up and would explode in less than 3 hours.
Godwin paid the group their fee and reminded them that he would pay another 5,000 sp for passage for himself, the book and his bodyguards to Saltmarsh when they were ready to depart Pennerick. He would check back the next day.
After Godwin departed, the group set sail and, once well offshore, dropped the trapped book over the side. Then they returned to Pennerick.
In the morning, Wiley and Lorcan visited the local enchanter to inquire about Talsiman Wands. The group agreed to purchase a wand for each of them with Ritual of Remove Curse in Wiley's wand and Ritual of Identification in Lorcan's wand. The two mages would then use their own funds to add more spells.
GM: We can handle the rest of the Talisman Wand stuff by email. Keith and Dennis, just let me know what spells you want to include in your respective Talisman Wands.
The Sea Ghost departed for Saltmarsh the next morning. The weather was overcast with a possible storm brewing, but nothing overly difficult - at least that is what those with Weather Lore forecasted but, throughout the day, the wind picked up and slowly shifted to the north. Overnight, rain started and again, Weather Lore indicated a moderate storm that Sea Ghost could easily handle.
But the reality was different. The storm got progressively worse and by morning the seas and swells were coming from different directions while a heavy wind blew out of the north. Storm-tossed seas moderated only slightly when Lorcan cast a Calm Waters spell. And once the Sea Ghost sailed out of the area of the calmer seas, the ship was again tossed and turned on heavy seas and thirty foot swells.
GM: Those in the group who are Skilled (rank 6-9) with Sailing or Rowing have not been susceptible to seasickness up to this point. However, as the storm gets worse, and the Sea Ghost is tossed and turned, even those who are skilled start feeling nauseous. Those with a WP or CON of 26 or higher are immune to seasickness.
GM: Godwin is currently inhabiting Lorcan's cabin and, when Kalin checked on him recently, he was very seasick. Neither of his bodyguards appeared the least bit seasick.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night.
|
|