Arendel’s Serpent's Skull Journal. (Complete! 06/25/13, With Pictures!)

Session 29.​

Lamashan the 21st.

We have decided to take some time off for scribing and equipment purchase. We teleported to Kalabuto to see what magical equipment there might be to assist us in our adventures. I know Max and Taraz are interested in protective equipment. I shall spend the next few days scribing so that we can finally sell this spell book we acquired.


Lamashan the 22nd.

My studies are going fairly well, though I was unable to decipher one of the more complex spells in the book. I could study it some more, but I think it is not an important one to know, so I shall waste no more time with it. Both Taraz and Max have found someone to enchant their armor and cloaks. Taraz also hopes to add an acidic effect to his morningstar.


Lamashan the 23rd.

Studying and scribing, I’m beginning to think I shall never want to write again.


Lamashan the 24th.

Finally finished! The mage at the shop where I purchased the bulk of my scribing material was interested in purchasing the spellbook, so we have some extra cash. He also mentioned he had an item that would enhance my intelligence, especially my knowledge of royalty, heraldry and other items in the field of nobility. I used some of the gold from the sale of the spellbook to purchase the Headband and more scribing material. Once we wrapped up our purchases, we Teleported back to the Pathfinder camp on the central isle of Saventh-Yhi.


Lamashan the 25th.

Back to our exploration of Saventh-Yhi. We figured we would take it easy and explore the Artisan’s District. One of the first things we found was a huge statue of Savith, the heroine the city is named after. Indeed, it depicted her legendary act of decapitating the evil serpent god Ydersius. As we approached we were attacked by swarms of snakes. I cleared them away with a few well placed fireballs, but I find it interesting that we should encounter serpents at the base of a statue honoring a slayer of serpents.

Moving quickly but efficiently through the district, we found little of interest. As we were headed back to the central village, we saw the return of a creature that had escaped us previously. It was the return of Grugonoth, the huge, fiendish ape. He arrived with a couple of large girallons and roared out a challenge to the Radiant Muse. He claimed he was back to reclaim his city and destroy the Tribe of the Sacred Serpent.

Max drank a potion to Enlarge himself while Taraz cast a spell to increase Max’s strength. Once they were ready, I Teleported the three of us into the midst of the melee. Grugonoth roared in anger when he saw us and lashed out at Max. I quickly cast Haste upon our group. Max roared back at Grugonoth’s challenge, and then destroyed him. It may appear I’m oversimplifying what happened, but truthfully, in less than ten seconds Max had lashed out with his hammer multiple times, almost faster than the eye could follow and after just a few strikes, Grugonoth lay dead with his head completely crushed by one of the strikes. We quickly finished off his girallons and the battle was done.

The Radiant muse thanked us for our help and explained that she had been the one who had turned Grugonoth to stone and buried him to the north, which explains his grudge against the Muse and her people. We then rested for the night in her village.


Lamashan the 26th.

We moved on to the swampy Agricultural District. We found little. We even somehow managed to avoid the Great Green God in the quagmire at the south end of the district. Perhaps the creature does not really exist? We did find a location where sacrifices were left for the creature, but there was no sign of the beast itself.

Working our way back north to the drier part of the district, we came across a small island that was surrounded by Troglodyte heads mounted on stakes. Within a primitive temple on the isle, we found an effigy of the Great Green God. I believe it is one of the wards that their shaman set against the vampire.


Lamashan the 27th.

Having wrapped up the Agricultural District, we explored a pair of bridges to the southeast. One of the bridges was quite elaborate and was most likely used as a primary entrance to the city. A large round building located about half-way across was probably used as a barracks in the cities heyday. Indeed it was still used as a barracks of sorts by the Troglodytes that we encountered. They threw beads at us that burst into fireballs. I showed them just how truly deadly magical fire could be.

Farther along, we heard a female voice calling for help from high in a blood soaked nest of vines and branches. As we investigated, a large, parrot-like creature attacked us with its claws and incredibly sharp beak. I believe the creature is called a Camulatz, a creature that has been known to behead a man with a single strike of its vorpal beak. I quickly cast one of my most potent spells, stealing the breath from the creature. Once it fell to the ground unconscious, Max quickly finished the job.

The Heroes are:

Arendel Whisperson – Human Fire Elemental Wizard 10 (Abciximab)
Max “Little” Hammer – Human Fighter/Rogue 6/4 (Peteinmaine)
Acemodius and Kay Es – Tiefling Summoner 9 and his Eidolon (Mundinironhand)
Taraz – Aasimar Oracle of Life 9 (Adam B.)
Ka’Azbu – Human Mwangi Ranger 8 (David)

First, to explain the pictures: The first one is Max, Taraz and Arendel (Max is Yellowish w/ Large red base (because he was Enlarged at the time), Taraz is next to him and Arendel is flying nearby) along with the Radiant Muse (Large Winged Figure) and Chief Osond (Medium Paper Figure). We are confronting two Girallons and Gruganoth (Huge Paper Figure). This was the last image of Gruganoth before he was obliterated by Max.

The second pic is a silly doodle that Peteinmaine made while we were confronting the Boggards in session 28, which only those born before 1980 will probably understand (you see, there was this video game called Frogger…). I thought it was funny so I snapped a pic before it was erased for the start of the new session.

We were a little short handed, no Ace and no Ka’Azbu, but we were able to make do with a Fighter/Rogue, Wizard and Oracle. We had time for a little shopping before we got into it. Arendel wanted to get the scribing over and done with and finally sell off the captured spellbook. I managed to roll a 1 on scribing Mage’s Lucubration. Oh well, no great loss.

The encounter with Grugonoth was cool. I was just thinking the week before that the GM had forgotten about him and we were in the clear. Then he shows up almost first thing, immediately provokes from Max and then sucks up a full attack from an Enlarged, Bull’s Strength enhanced, Hasted Max. 2 Hits and 1 Crit later, Grugonoth collapses from the 159 hit points of damage (not counting the AoO) at the end of the first round. Then, Max full attacks one of the Girallons and, after 2 Hits and 1 Crit, scores exactly 159 hit points of damage again!

The rest of the session was exploring and minor encounters, right up until the end when we encountered the Camulatz. What a weird name for a weird creature. I believe it had thrown its voice (the female cry for “help, help!”) in an attempt to distract us, then flew out and attacked. I decided to break out the big guns and it failed its save vs Suffocation, collapsing to the ground. Turns out, it was just in time, as he was beak to face with Arendel and the GM told us afterwards the Camulatz has a Vorpal Beak! Whew. That was close.

Distracted

We have really settled into this big old city. Sadly my name is beginning to proceed me among the locals and we have made a lot of 'friends' lately. Just when I thought we weren't going to be challenged much more in the city...the giant flying demonic gorilla came back!!! I drank potions I was so excited to slay him! Arendel blinkied us up to the top of the pyramid and I got ready for a fight, the big gorilla got close enough for me to clip him with my hammer, he attacked me pretty good, then it was my turn, with Arendel making everyone else go slow I attacked him like crazy! Got two good whacks and a killer blow. The big Gorilla was dead in the first few seconds of our fight. I turned my disappointment on one of his minions crushing it instantly as well.

We rested up a bit and explored some more, slept in the second worst inn I've ever stayed in...The next day this giant crazy bird with blood all it attacked us...Arendel sucked the air right out of it's stupid cracker wanting mouth...(don't tell anyone birds freak me out...in the morning...making all that noise...right outside your window....it's like they know you're sleeping...and won't let you....like they KNOW you're sleeping....how do they know.....)

Session 30.​

Lamashan the 27th (Cont).

This definitely seems like the Temple District. We have passed temples to Groetus and Desna. We also encountered a few more Troglodytes, including a couple of Shaman. It seems Max is overly sensitive to the stench of these creatures as he seems sickened by it every time we encounter them.

At one point we heard the sound of digging coming from a temple of Achaekek. Apparently the ancient Azlanti worshiped him as a god of monsters and disasters. Max entered the building and managed to get right up behind the individuals, even looking over their shoulders to see what they might be digging up. It wasn’t until he asked what they were doing that they turned and instantly drew out their saw-toothed sabers. More Red Mantis.

Though Max was momentarily taken aback by their sudden hostility, he is always ready for a fight. As the melee started, more of them appeared on the rooftops across the street. Faced with no other alternatives, we decimated our opponents.

A thorough search of the area, both above ground and below (with the aid of a summoned Earth Elemental) we were unable to find anything they might have been looking for. We moved on, headed for the District Spear.

At the spear we were greeted by more Troglodyte Warriors, a number of Shamans and an individual who was probably their Chieftain. Our attempts at diplomacy were rebuffed as the Chief summoned a huge Praying Mantis and ordered our deaths. Max, though once again sickened by the stench of the Trogs, charged up the steps to get to the spell-slinging chief as quickly as possible, while one of the Shamans attempted to magically Silence me.

Ace worked on battlefield control with a Wall of Fire and a mass of writhing Black Tentacles, while Ka’Azbu fired arrows into the melee and Taraz sent Searing rays of Light at the Trog Warriors. With the others doing what they do best and me raining magical fire down upon our enemies, we quickly won out against them.

We soon determined this was the Spear of Fertility and that it had been crudely altered since its original construction to act as a monument to Achaekek. Among the Troglodyte’s belongings we found a great Weapon dedicated to Evil, The Mantis Blade. We suspect it is a “Living Blade”, a sentient minor artifact dedicated to the god Achaekek. We have wrapped it up and stowed it safely away. We shall talk to the Pathfinders about the blade and research possible ways to destroy it.

We spent the night at the top of the ziggurat.


Lamashan the 28th.

During his shift, Taraz noted strange moaning coming from somewhere east of the spear. In the morning we traveled east to find the source of the disturbance. We located a Temple dedicated to Pharasma. Within the first hall we were greeted by the irate ghostly forms of two Pharasmin Priests. They demanded to know our reason for entering the temple. Without waiting for our reply, they quickly moved to attack. We defeated them quickly, but both Taraz and Max were behaving oddly afterwards. They seemed distrustful and anxious around the rest of our group. It’s hard to be sure, but I believe Kay’Es was behaving oddly as well.

Taraz removed a scroll from his collection and read a powerful Prayer of Greater Restoration, which seemed to remove his Paranoia. We shall see if we can do the same for the others, assuming they will even trust us enough to allow us to attempt the healing prayers.

I have to be careful

I think Arendel might be reading my journal entries...I don't think Im mad, but I don't like it. Also the donkey no longer wants to get drunk with the dog and I, I believe Ace might be turning him away from me with carrots, Ace and his always talking to animals and making them attack and stuff....It's hard to trust him sometimes...This whole city is weird, I can't wait to move on. All these people fighting and clawing over these ruins, there's not even rooms full of gold like you're supposed to find treasure hunting...stupid pathfinders with their preserving, I should be killing legendary monsters...if there's a giant frog with tentacles that thinks its a big green badass...I should be killing it....what the heck! I'm really irritable since earlier today...fighting ghosts....what kind of dead people leave their bodies behind...and those god damn stinky lizards! I almost throw up every time we fight them, I'm gonna kill a whole bunch of those....

-Max...being to suffer from the effects of insanity...

The pics are pretty straight forward. The 1st is the party as a group, Max out front, his dog is under a flying Arendel, Ka’Azbu just behind the dog, Taraz to the right of the dog, Ace behind Taraz (head MIA behind Arendels base, there just has to be one in every family photo ) and Kay’Es flying above Ace. The others are our encounter atop the ziggurat against the Troglodytes and then against the Temple Ghosts.

Straightforward encounters in this session. We try to deal with spellcasters first, then the mooks. Ace and Taraz did a good job keeping the riff-raff off us while everyone else piled on the Troglodyte leader and his guards.

I’m not sure what to make of the Insanity rules, since this is our first run in with that particular mechanic. It seems awfully hard to cure and I would think insanity caused by a creature effect should be subject to Remove Curse or Break Enchantment, but alas, that is not the case. Shouldn’t be too hard to heal I suppose, just a few castings of Restoration. This is assuming that the individuals will let us heal them, of course. We can’t have our front line fighters (Max & Kay’Es) running around refusing to be healed .

We are eager to wrap up this chapter as we will officially be half-way through the AP once we do. We’ve been running ten sessions to each book so far, this is the first to go over ten. Hopefully we’ll wrap it up next session and then we’ll be on to... uh… Well, whatever is next!

Abciximab said:

Thanks for reading and the comments Lwaxy. I think you’re actually our second poster from Germany (a country where I was lucky enough to spend 2.5 years way back when and hope to visit again someday), unless the other poster was from Berlin New Hampshire…

Click to expand...

Actually it is Berlin, Germany and not the original placein New Hampshire after which it was named.

I just caught up on the SH during the last days. I was little bit distracted from the splendid reading by the my daughter's birth in late November.

Session 31.​

Lamashan the 28th (Cont).

We continued to explore the Temple. In the next room we found four large statues of individuals that must have been heads of the church before Saventh-Yhi’s fall into ruin. An altar dedicated to Pharasma stood near the far wall. As Max moved to explore it, two more ghosts appeared. We were able to defeat them, but were unable to determine how to lay them to rest permanently.

Within a secret door in the altar, we found an ancient Azanti item, a Rod of Well Deserved Rest. This item has a number of uses, both beneficial and, if the wielder is in need of a weapon, harmful.

We moved out to explore the rest of the district. As we entered a large plaza surrounded by ninety foot high stone pillars, we were ambushed by three huge praying mantises. Just as we were getting the situation well in hand, we found ourselves surrounded by Troglodytes and Red Mantis Assassins. It was a well planned ambush, but we were able to quickly adapt and overcome.

I noticed more strange behavior from Max. He refused to accept a captured javelin from me, even though I know he is constantly on the lookout for more to keep his personal stock of javelins up. I also couldn’t help but notice he seemed to resist, or at least attempt to resist, the healing prayers of Taraz. We shall have to do something about this problem sooner rather than later.

Moving on, we found a tall sculpted boulder, surrounded by golden towers. Azlanti runes marked it as the tomb of Savith, the Heroin of Saventh-Yhi, Slayer of Ydersius. It looked like the only way to the entrance was to fly and it was fairly obvious to me that the whole region was warded by Powerful Magic. We debated a bit, but then decided we weren’t quite prepared for this challenge. We will pass on this information to the Pathfinders and get recommendations from them.

We soon came across a great statehouse surrounded by verdant flora. We heard soft singing coming from behind the estate. We were immediately concerned. Opening the front door, we found the interior to be overgrown with moss and other vegetation. This finding only served to increase my concern.

While Ace and Taraz moved around the side of the building, Max climbed the wall to the roof, while I flew next to him. In a topiary garden behind the house stood a beautiful green woman singing in a language I was unfamiliar with, though Ace later informed me it was Elven.

While the others stayed hidden, I flew down to attempt to speak with her. She seemed to be of Fey origin and I was able to converse with her in Sylvan. She told me she had been cursed by an evil wizard and could not leave the grounds. She seemed believable, but I am finding the story hard to accept. As it was getting late, she invited me to spend the night on her estate and I quickly had to explain that I was not alone. She extended the invitation to my comrades as well.

I was uneasy with the idea of sleeping inside the manor house, so we all bedded down on the flat roof. Before sleep, we were able to convince Max to accept the Restoring prayers of Taraz. Once we were finished, we were three hundred gold worth of silver dust poorer, but Max was back to his old self. Money well spent, I say.


Lamashan the 29th.

I awoke this morning for my watch only to find out Max is missing. The others tell me that he was not present on their watch, a fact that indicates he has been missing all night! They laughed it off and seemed to think they knew what was going on, though they had no real answers for me. I convinced the others immediate action was necessary and we rushed downstairs to search the house. So great was my concern, that I did not even take the time to prepare my spells for the day.

The entire place seemed empty and we quickly spread out to search for secret doors. It was at this point that my companions started to take the situation more seriously. In our search, we disturbed a huge plant, some strange version of a Venus Flytrap. It said “Feed me” or something to that effect and then attacked. It quickly engulfed me and Ace, capturing us in two separate pods. I was able to use magic to escape, but Ace had no such magics to aid him in his escape. Luckily we were able to defeat the foul plant before it digested him.

We are currently performing a thorough search of the estate with little success. The others are currently tearing up the vegetation on the floor where the huge Venus Flytrap attacked us. Wherever Max is, I hope he is all right. We have journeyed long together and come through so much. I have come to think of all my comrades as brothers and the thought of one of them trapped, perhaps tortured or wounded leaves me

My companions indicate they have found something, I must go.

Cromm10k

Actually it is Berlin, Germany and not the original place in New Hampshire after which it was named.

I just caught up on the SH during the last days. I was little bit distracted from the splendid reading by the my daughter's birth in late November.

Click to expand...

Yes, I believe Native Americans named Berlin, New Hampshire about 11,000 years ago after… No, wait… what?

Congratulations on your little one, my son is a November baby as well.


I think I’ll try to include pics with every update now (Assuming I can remember to actually pick up the camera during the game). The first is our battle with the last remaining ghostly priest, the second and third offer a little foreshadowing as to where the next session will start.

Ghosts: Hate ‘em.

Luckily, it turned out to be pretty easy to heal Max’s mind, just cost a little gold. Not sure what to make of the big ambush, except to say the Red Mantis demanded the Saw-Toothed Saber we found. They sure figured it out quick, as we had just captured the saber the night before from the Troglodytes. I suppose you take your chances when you walk around with a minor artifact dedicated to an evil god.

Singing Green Woman + Estate full of Mage Eating Plants = Bad News.

The weird green lady was… well… weird. We haven’t figured out what she is yet. I couldn’t really get a feel for the situation, except the “Cursed by Evil Wizard” thing is way overplayed. Do game designers really think we’re still buying that one? Is she some kind of weird Fey Medusa that turns her victims into a decorative shrubbery? Perhaps we’ll find out, next time with the Continuing Adventures of the Serpent Skull Adventure Path!

Abciximab said:

End of Session 31.​

Cromm10k


Yes, I believe Native Americans named Berlin, New Hampshire about 11,000 years ago after… No, wait… what?

Congratulations on your little one, my son is a November baby as well.

Click to expand...

Thanks!!! November babies FTW!!!