| Current Turn? | No |  | Subject: | Awakening |
| Campaign: | Spelljammer | | Turn Start Date: | 4/27/606 |
| Adventure: | Citadel of Fire | | Turn End Date: | 4/30/606 |
| Adventure Number: | 6 | | Characters: | Barnas, KC , Martin Vane, Morty Crystaltouched, Pellanistra Xarann, Shaarilla, Syllivarrna Obanghall, Tyra Stellastrom |
| Turn Number: | 4.3 | | Send To: | bluemountain@championsoftheempire.com; mghaught@gmail.com |
| Greyhawk Campaign? | No | | Combat Turn? | No |
| Name | Lethal | NL | Current | END | PROT | LOW | DEF | ROF | Flash | Heal | Luck Pts | Fate Pts | |
| Barnas | 0 | 0 | 56/56 | /0 | 7 | 1 | 34 | 0 | /0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| KC | 0 | 0 | 43/43 | /0 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 2 | /0 | 1/day | 1/1 | /0 | |
| Martin Vane | 0 | 0 | 50/50 | /0 | 9 | 2 | 40 | 8 | /0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | 0 | 0 | 46/46 | /0 | 5 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Pellanistra Xarann | 0 | 0 | 55/55 | 8/8 | 7 | 0 | 68 | 10 | /0 | 1/day | 1/1 | /0 | |
| Shaarilla | 0 | 0 | 33/33 | /0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | 0 | 0 | 62/62 | /0 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 10 | /0 | 1/day | 2/2 | /1 | |
| Tyra Stellastrom | 0 | 0 | 76/76 | 6/6 | 7 | 1 | 68 | 12 | /0 | 2/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mage/Psioncist Name | Psionic Pts | Spell Pts | Spell Pool | Miscellaneous Information |
| KC | / | 0/7 | 1/9 | |
| Martin Vane | / | 1/9 | 9/9 | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | / | 5/11 | 9/9 | |
| Shaarilla | / | 14/19 | 7/25 | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | / | 6/9 | 12/12 | |
| | | | |
| Barnas | Cleric Pool (11/11) |
| KC | |
| Martin Vane | Invisibility, Spell Store (Bolt of Energy) |
| Morty Crystaltouched | Shadow Magic, Phantasmal Force |
| Pellanistra Xarann | Strength (+2) |
| Shaarilla | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | Invisibility |
| Tyra Stellastrom | Stoneskin (x4) |
|
You sleep and dream.
False awakening. Walking through endless corridors of stone and mist.
Conversations with the dead and living.
Betrayal and friendship. Friendship and betrayal.
The blood of friends.
Dark necromancy and black curses. Vile rituals of dark power.
A friend and ally.
You awaken in a small chamber. The walls, floor and ceiling are of dark marble. Ancient stains and imperfections mar the otherwise smooth surfaces. Chipped marble pedestals stand in each corner. A flickering lantern sits atop each pedestal. A narrow passage leads off in one direction.
Lani is the first to awaken, followed a minute later by KC. Others awaken over the course of the next few minutes until all eight of you are awake. One still sleeps. A man whose name you know and whose image came frequently to your dreams. He is Garamal the White and you know that your actions in solving the riddle are why he is now asleep and not dead. He is a friend and ally who was mortally wronged by the Beast Maker though Garamal holds no grudge. The Beast Maker is cursed and Garamal, once mentor to a young man who became the Beast Maker, seeks only to absolve him from his curse that he will once again rule with sanity and benevolence.
Garamal begins to awaken.
Barnas looks around. He wonders what became of Finn.
LANI: "That was very strange but no more so than allowing ourselves to be buried alive. Does anyone remember what happened? All I have are vague dreams of somehow freeing Garamal from some sort of curse and then agreeing to accompany him so that he can try to remove some sort of curse on the Beast Maker."
GM: Garamal is stirring but not yet awake.
LANI: Lani stands up, brushes herself off and begins to check over her gear to make sure she isn't missing anything. Then she says, "Is anyone else hungry? I'm famished."
GM: None of Lani's gear is missing.
TYRA: "Yeah, that matches what I recall from the experience." Tyra checks herself to make sure she's fine and nothing is missing. Then she'll make sure everyone else is doing okay.
KC: He checks his things then pulls out something eat. "Well, I am a bit fuzzy bout who and what that man over there means. Being buried and the trip to here from the grave; the disjointed dreams; the uneasy dark, I am wondering were we are and if there are ghouls around the next corner."
SYL (OOC): Could Finn have been Garamal in disguise/cursed state?
MARTIN: (OOC) That seems the obvious conclusion …
SYL: Will look around to see if all her gear is in place and then make sure everyone else is ready to move forward (to where ever that may be).
GM: Syl finds that none of her gear is missing. Like the others, she is famished. The others are still awakening and getting to their feet.
As Lani waits for everyone else, including Garamal, to awaken, she peers down the long passage. It disappears into darkness.
One by one, everyone else awakens. Everyone is hungry. After checking their equipment to make sure nothing is missing, everyone gets something to eat from their rations. As they are eating and discussing the strange dreams, Garamal finally comes fully awake. He looks around with a confused look on his face. He shakes his head and says, "What happened?"
Barnas takes the lead and explaining that the group is not entirely sure what happened but they think that they performed some sort of ritual to awaken him from his curse. Everything is a dream to them and no one in the group has clear memories of exactly what happened. They only remember that they somehow aided the removal of a curse on Garamal and agreed to accompany him as he seeks to remove a curse on the Beast Maker.
At the mention of the Beast Maker, Garamal shakes his head and says, "But I know of no such person!"
Barnas, with occasional additional comments from others in the group, goes on to explain what they know of the Beast Maker and Garamal finally nods his head in understanding.
"I did not know him as the Beast Maker. I knew him as..." He gets a confused look on his face and then says, "I knew him as something other than the Beast Maker but the name I knew him as escapes me. However, I knew him to be a good soul and know that something terrible has afflicted him. I believe he is the one who put the curse on me that, for all intents and purposes, rendered me mostly dead. I am glad that you agreed to assist me. I recall something about you trying to get home. I've little doubt that helping me will lead directly to a way for you to return to your home."
Garamal has been sitting on the ground all this time and he finally climbs to his feet. He is a middle-aged man of middle height and very thin. His hands seem overly large for his body. He is completely bald with no facial hair. His face is round but sallow. It looks like he was once a portly man who has not eaten in a long time. He is wearing a thin burial robe and burial sandals.
GM: If offered food, he will gladly take it, eating all that he is given.
Garamal looks around the chamber and sees the only exit. "Presumably we must go that way to get out of here. Does anyone know where we are?"
GM: No one does and I will assume the group lets Garamal know that.
GARAMAL: "Then let us head out and see if we can get our bearings. If we are still under the Citadel of Fire, then mayhaps I can find the room where I was interred for these many years and recover my equipment. This I will need before we can face he whom you call the Beast Maker."
KC: looking down the hallway, "okay lets go." He says a few words and waves his hand in the air and a soft light appears.
KC: soft light cantrip. 9 ft radius for 80 minutes. (GM) did it feel like the high mana area in the tower? If it does we are probably back in the tower somewhere.
The group heads down the long passage. It ends after about 50 feet at a natural stone wall. An opening in the wall is blocked by what appears to be a boulder shoved into the opening from the other side. Tyra and Lani are able to push the boulder forward and to the side with relative ease, revealing a very narrow tunnel through thick underbrush. Lani leads the way down the tunnel and pushes aside branches at the end to reveal the graveyards where the group was buried. Waiting for the group is Finn. He is sitting on his haunches about 15 feet away from the end of the tunnel through the underbrush.
Lani says, "Hi Finn," as she steps out of the tunnel. Finn bounds to his feet and waits excitedly for the rest of the group to emerge. When Barnas comes out, he runs up to him.
Behind Barnas is Garamal, who looks at the dog and asks, "Who is this dog?"
Barnas quickly recounts how Finn came to be with the group.
"You are aware that he is not really a dog in the normal sense, are you not?" he asks Barnas. "I am certain that he is a Blink Dog." As he speaks, Garamal is looking warily at Finn. "Blink Dogs are highly intelligent and he can probably understand everything we say."
As Garamal is talking to Barnas, others in the group glance over to where their graves were located. The ground there is covered with grass. There are no gravestones and no signs of freshly dug graves.
BARNAS: "I knew he could understand, teleport and hold his own in a fight." The young cleric says thing as he gives Finn a head rub. "I had not had time to do much research, and I wondered if he might have been someone affected by the Beast Master's curse. That seemed to explain things. But he was willing to leave and you don't and no one else seemed to recognize him. So that idea is more and more unlikely... So when I get the chance I will be reading up on Blink Dogs."
GARAMAL: "You'll find that they are generally a very congenial and honorable race of entities," Garamal says while looking at Finn. "But they are not homogenous. Their intelligence rivals that of humans and evil ones can certainly be found. I speak from experience."
Finn simply looks on but does not otherwise react.
SYL: Recommend we tie ourselves together and head back to Solar; specifically the Pooping Toad to see if Alomar is there (to verify Garama;'s identity/backstory...) and see if there is anything he can add to the process.
TYRA: Tyra listens to Garamal's story, nodding along as he explains what happened. Tyra will take up her usual position towards the front of the group, ready for combat. Tyra is also fascinated by the fact that Finn is a Blink Dog.
MARTIN: “What a hangover – hey, what happened to the graves and gravestones? They were right here…”
MORTY: As I awaken I mumble under my breath grumpily. Upon realizing how hungry I am I get out a little food to eat while I take stock of the situation. As Garamol is introduced I nod respectfully, but a moment or two later I grumble again something about, "What kind of sick and twisted entity decides to put us through that as the key to releasing his curse. I suppose it could have been the only loophole that the Beastmaker didn't foresee, but this is ridiculous. Ah well, such is life, apparently.
MORTY (GM): I assume that all existing spells are expired? Can we make any guesses as to the length of time that has passed based on facial hair or fingernail growth? Are we fully rested as far as spell energy goes? If so, I suppose I would want to re-attempt the Spell Store and Shadow Magics, as lame as that worked out last time...
GM: Yes all of the previously cast spells have expired. Everyone has full spell points and pool. Basically everyone is a little tired, probably from your unknown ordeals which seem to have been at least a day and maybe a few days.
SHAARILLA: Besides being hungry, what concerned her was it her Magic Armor spell was active or not. While munching on some jerky from her Fanny pack, Shaarilla uses her Power Perception to check yourself and everyone else for any ongoing magical effects as well as the Magic Armor.
GM: Power perception can't be used to look at yourself but when she looks at everyone else, she notes nothing alarming.
GM: I will send the next turn tomorrow with the assumption that no one has any more immediate questions for Garamal. He would like to head to the place where he was interred to gather his equipment prior to facing the Beast Maker. He feels fairly certain that he can find the way.
Finn rejoins the group walking alongside Barnas. Garamal tells the group to return the way they came. Their goal is to get back in the vicinity of the circular stair that leads up to the tower. You may not actually have to go that far but it will allow Garamal to hopefully get his sense of bearings with regard to the dungeon.
The group heads back out of the graveyard and to the Village of Solar. However, the village is no longer there. The Curtain of Winter is gone and the cavern beyond is empty. There is no sign that the Village of Solar was ever here. The group crosses the large chamber to where the first Curtain of Winter was located. It is no longer there but the passage beyond is in place and heads to the north. When the group reaches the four way intersection, Garamal says, "I now know where we are. We must turn right here. It should lead to another corridor where another right turn will take us to stairs leading down."
The group follows these instructions and soon find themselves heading down a wide set of dark, damp stairs, illuminated only by Lani's Flame Tongue sword and a lantern carried by Barnas. After descending over a hundred feet, the group reaches a landing where the passage turns to the right and stairs continue down further into darkness. Another hundred feet brings the group to the bottom. The passage carries on another 30 feet or so and then turns left and ends at a door.
GARAMAL: "Be careful here. It is likely that the Beast Maker maintains some sort of guard post beyond that door, guarding the entrance to the crypts on this level. Be prepared for battle."
GM: Small addendum - as the group reached the bottom of the stairs, Tyra's weapon (a mace known as Giant Basher) began to glow a very dull red. The brightness increased as the group approached the door.
TYRA: "The glow of my mace suggests that the guardian is a giant. I am hopeful that it is only one giant."
MORTY (GM): Please make appropriate lore rolls about giants in general. I realize without specifics of which type of giant(s) we're facing we know very little but if we can assume things like Hill Giants are dullards it might encourage me to try an illusion to distract or neutralize him.
GM: No one in the group has Giant Lore so I made Everything Lore rolls for those who had it. The only one in the group that knows anything about giants is Shaarilla. She recalls that, in fact, most of the lesser giants, including hill giants, tend to be not that bright. However, each giant is different and it seems likely that if the Beast Maker would have chosen a giant that wasn't as stupid to be a guard. Of course it is also possible that the giant is a "beast" that was made by the Beast Maker from a human warrior in which case it could have human intelligence and cunning.
GM: Beyond that, Shaarilla knows that the biggest challenge in fighting giants is their size. Normal humans wielding normal weapons simply can't reach many of a giant's vital organs. Pole arms work best as does the ability to leap (acrobatics skill). Best of all of course, is the ability to fly.
SYL: Will talk this through with everyone, but her intent is to basically (try to) cast Invisibility and/or Shadowform on herself and 1-2 others. If Tyra puts away the Flametongue she can also attempt to cast Strength of Darkness on her. Contemplating Create ShadowSword but I think her +1 Braodsword is about equal until she makes a few more ranks? She will save enough Spell Points for a StarFire or 2.
SHAARILLA: Shaarilla will offer to cast Magic Armor on anyone who wants it. She plans to say in the back and try Frost Bolt. If there are multiple targets and the space is big enough, she’ll try to line up to use one of her stored lightning bolts.
SYL (GM): do we feel we are within the confines of the tower (i.e. more spell points)?
GM: No, you are no longer in a high mana area. Spells cost normal spell points.
KC: l have stoneskin and strength spell. Also a fumble.spell but it is arwa affect to any creatures entering it. Friend or foe.
LANI: Lani would love some sort of strength-enhancing spell.
MARTIN: (GM) Martin has skill with pole arms, but are there any available in the group?
SHAARILLA: Shaarilla has a +1 quarterstaff if that would help.
SHAARILLA: Slow casting Mage Armor on herself until successful [rolled 84 vs cast chance of 45 - Failed Cast Chance!], [rolled 88 vs cast chance of 45 - Failed Cast Chance!], [rolled 74 vs cast chance of 45 - Failed Cast Chance!]. This is something she would’ve done soon after awakening since she feels vulnerable without her mage armor. For her walking around without mage armor is almost as bad as walking around in her underwear. Same feeling of vulnerability (though underwear is also embarrassing).
SHAARILLA: Well there go the spell points. Here are 3 more roles: [rolled 63 vs cast chance of 45 - Failed Cast Chance!], [rolled 78 vs cast chance of 45 - Failed Cast Chance!], [rolled 11 vs cast chance of 45 - Successful Cast Chance!]
GM: It succeeded on the fourth attempt (rolled 63) with the use of 18 points of her spell pool.
SHAARILLA (GM): Our giants big enough that Shaarilla could shoot arrows at the top half without risking hitting her friends fighting the lower half? As in firing high enough to miss human sized targets.
GM: Yes, assuming no one is up flying around their upper body.
MARTIN: “If anyone is interested, I can try to cast a Wizard Eye. Perhaps we can get an idea of what we’re facing.”
GM: I plan to send the next turn on Monday. If you plan to cast spells, go ahead and send your rolls. For scouting the situation, the Wizard Eye is probably the best bet.
KC: cast strength on Lani 2 spell points 80 minutes [rolled 55 vs cast chance of 47 - Failed Cast Chance!]! [rolled 92 vs cast chance of 47 - Failed Cast Chance!].
GM: Worked the first time with 8 points of spell pool.
KC: For my next spell it will be stoneskin on Tyra 2 spell points [rolled 96 vs cast chance of 57 - Automatic Failure!!!], [rolled 54 vs cast chance of 57 - Successful Cast Chance!].
KC: Stone skin on Tyra second cast is successful for [rolled 4] skins for 8 hours.
Martin casts a Wizard Eye while the group looks on. It takes him two attempts but he is successful. He sends it under the door and into the room. Unfortunately he is unable to see anything as the room is dark. The only source of light that he sees is the ribbon of light under the door through which the Wizard Eye just came. Which also means that if there is someone in the room, they can likely see the sliver of light as well.
MORTY (GM): I didn't see any comment on Morty checking the door over for possible traps or locks, did you assume that or did I need to specify? I should have a spell point left to check it for magical traps before touching it, and that should let me continue to scan the room once we're inside for more magics, assuming the fight won't last more than a dozen rounds ;)
Morty does not see any magic on the door. The door is almost 15 feet high but has no lock on it - just a simple latch. With a boost from Martin, Morty does his best to investigate the door and sees no traps.
SYL: Casting spells:
SYL: Invisibility (20 min duration, spell point 1) on herself: [rolled 39 vs cast chance of 52 - Successful Cast Chance!] and if needed, attempt again Invisibility on herself: [rolled 86 vs cast chance of 52 - Failed Cast Chance!]
SYL: Shadowform (duration 5 min, spell point 1) on Tyra (??): [rolled 91 vs cast chance of 32 - Failed Cast Chance!] and (most likely) a second attempt: [rolled 77 vs cast chance of 32 - Failed Cast Chance!]
SYL: Will also attempt (once only unless she had a success early) to cast Walking Unseen on anyone who wants it: 4 hour duration, spell point 1 [rolled 7 vs cast chance of 62 - Critical Success!!]
GM: Syl is now invisible. She failed with Shadowform. I did not yet mark off the spell point for Walking Unseen. I will do that when a target is decided.
MARTIN: Casting preparatory spells:
Invisibility on myself (Cast chance 59%): [rolled 37 vs cast chance of 59 - Successful Cast Chance!]
Spell Store on myself (Cast chance 53%): [rolled 13 vs cast chance of 53 - Successful Cast Chance!]
Bolt of Energy into Spell Store (Cast chance 67%): [rolled 13 vs cast chance of 67 - Successful Cast Chance!]
GM: I marked off the spell points. I actually don't show that Martin has Invisibility or Spell Store memorized but will give him the benefit of the doubt. Go ahead and send me a list of your memorized spells. He can memorize 9 spells.
TYRA (OOC): I have a few observations as a player to offer here. Some of it is likely already known to our characters and some of it may not be. First, unless you're high enough rank in invisibility, it's likely not going to be useful for combat. Once you attack, unless you're rank 11, it is dispelled. Walking Unseen is in the same boat but even more limiting so I'd save your spell points on that. Second, we're facing at least facing a giant and I believe many of them can target with a sense of smell. Thus invisibility won't help you if that's true. As characters, we may not know that though. Finally, you may want to conserve some spell points for combat casting or for other opportunities later. I'm not sure how much these spells will sway the battle either way so keeping some spell energy back for anything that follows might be prudent.
LANI: Lani can Walk Unseen once per day but will hold off using the ability as she does not think it will be much of a benefit against a giant.
GM: I will send the next turn with the assumption that the group opens the door and has plenty of light available (since it is dark inside).
The group opens the door letting light spill into the room. They see a chamber that is 50 feet square with doors in the middle of the left wall and the opposite wall. In the center of the room is a 15 to 20 foot tall giant. The giant is wearing thick leather armor and wields a massive club. In his other hand is a shield. Littering the floor are bones and other debris from past challengers. Cracks and gouges in the walls and 30 foot ceiling attest to shattering impacts of the huge club.
The giant grins and raises his club as the door opens. He looks down at the group just waiting for them to enter.
GM: Those with Giant Lore or Everything Lore can make their rolls to try to determine what type of giant the group is facing.
LANI: Lani will take a cautious step into the room, ready for an attack by the giant and ready to attack back.
SHAARILLA: Everything Lore: [rolled -9 (Absolute Failure)]
GM: Definitely an overly large kobold. Seriously though, Shaarilla is unsure what kind of giant it is but suspects that it is a stone giant.
TYRA: Tyra will slowly proceed towards the giant. "Let's have our front line fighters approach together. I'll hold the center. Anyone know anything about this kind of giant?"
SHAARILLA: Shaarilla volunteered, “I think it’s a stone giant."
MARTIN: Everylore: [rolled 31 (Failure)] to know something about this giant.
MARTIN: (OOC) I’m assuming that those of us who are invisible will be maneuvering for tactical advantage, under the cover of the noise and distraction of the non-invisible members of the party?
KC: evertrhing lore for giant rolled a [rolled 3 (Absolute Failure)].
MORTY TECH: Everything lore +15 [rolled 55 (Failure)]
MORTY (OOC): I'm not sure how I can possibly compete with the others on this one...
BARNAS: Everything Lord: [rolled 78 (Partial Success)]
MORTY (GM): I will have my illusionary creature be a single full-sized angel complete with flaming sword and soft choir of angels background sound effect (as well as realistic wing-beat sounds) and it will fly in and up to engage in its face first when the others are getting close, evading the swings of the club. It will cover normal sight and hearing, and the full olfactory group while being somewhat programmable so it will move realistically without my personal control and attention.
GM: Presumably you are trying to make it smell like what you believe an angel smells like, correct?
GM: KC concurs with Shaarilla that it is probably a stone giant. Morty is unsure what kind of giant it is. Barnas does not think it is a stone giant, cloud giant or storm giant but is otherwise unsure.
Tyra and Lani step into the room and towards the giant. Barnas and Finn follow, stepping to the side as they enter. The giant gives a loud roar and then says, "DEPART THE WAY YOU CAME OR YOUR BONES WILL JOIN THOSE OF ALL OF THE OTHERS WHOM I HAVE VANQUISHED OVER THE YEARS IN MY SERVICE TO THE BEAST MAKER!"
When the group does not depart, the giant steps forward to attack. During this slight pause, everyone else was able to move forward a few more feet. Morty's angel streaks into the room and up towards the giant's head.
GM: Note that Finn's low profile makes him practically useless against giants though if Garamal is right and Finn is actually a blink dog, he may have some tricks up his sleeve. Garamal is also useless at this time without any of his equipment (which the group is currently helping him recover - he is fairly certain that it is on this level beyond the giant).
GM: Map to follow shortly. Each square is 5 feet. Go ahead and send your round 1 actions.
TYRA: Tyra nods to the giant and prepares herself in a combat stance. To the group, she replies, "It's on! Get up here and engage as a group."
TYRA (GM): How many people do we think we can get on the giant in melee?
GM: I am testing some new rules on outnumbering. Up to five medium opponents with medium weapons can encircle the giant and attack in melee without interfering with each other. You can actually get up to 10 people on the giant if they are all using fists, martial arts, claws, bite, etc. (i.e., no weapons). Or you could get up to 7 people if 6 are using daggers and one is using fists/kicks. |
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