Adventures in Kalamar! - (Now) Forging Darkness

[wsclark]

Session VIII - The Calm Ends?

Frosting 14th, 744 YND

Everyone awakens to a beautiful, but still totally calm day. All are nervous at this point, the attack last night does not sit well with everyone since the sea is calm once again. Tension among the crew is rising rapidly and the adventurers are trying to keep to themselves as much as possible without making it look like they are avoiding the crew.

The sun sets and the mood is apprehensive. If an attack came during the night yesterday with the sea being calm, won't the same happen again tonight? All are on their toes. And just like last night, four creatures try to sneak up on board the ship, starting to wreck havoc.

It happens, again on third watch, except, this time, Pug is sleeping on deck and four crew are on duty. The first thing anyone notices is a muffled cry of surprise from one of the crew as he is pinned dead to the mast from a heavy crossbow bolt. Everyone quickly looks around to see the four creatures that are attacking. Chin kicks Pug to wake him. Two of the remaining crew go to gang up on one of the sahuagin toward the rear of the ship, while the two sahuagin at the front fire their crossbows Shaedra and Thalen, both missing. The last sahuagin at the rear of the ship, fires another heavy crossbow bolt, killing another crew member.

The two crew members attacking the sahuagin between are not doing well. They do manage to inflict some minor damage before one of them is cut down by a trident. Chin rushes over to help the other sailor out. Meanwhile, Shaedra goes after one of the two at the front of the ship, hitting it and wounding it severely. Pug gets up and moves toward the other sahuagin at the front of the ship while Thalen lets loose with an arrow at it, missing. The sahuagin at the rear of the ship reloads his crossbow.

Chin manages to deal the creature in front of him some severe damage, but not enough to take him down before the sahuagin spears the other sailor dead with his trident. The four crewmen that were on watch are now dead. Shaedra deals another blow to the creature in front of her, killing it. Pug, in an almost repeat performance of the previous night, takes out the sahuagin in front of him in one mighty swish of his greataxe. Thalen decides to shoot at the sahuagin that reloaded its crossbow, missing again. The creature returns fire, missing Thalen.

Chin lands another punch on the sahuagin he faces, finally taking it out. With this turn of events, the last sahuagin jumps into the water over the back end of the ship. Everyone takes stock of what happened. The adventurers are unharmed, but four crew members lost their lives. The captain is happy that the adventurers were present to help them out, sad that he lost four crew and apprehensive in that he wonders why he let that crazy wizard talk him into taking these people as passengers. Maybe they are bringing his ship bad luck, he wonders to himself.

Frosting 15th, 744 YND

Everyone again awakens to a beautiful day, but this time a breeze is picking up. There is a massive sigh of relief from everyone on board as the ship finally gets underway. It is the start of what turns into a very pleasant day. All on board are starting to relax as the day wears on. However, this is not to be the case that night as the sahuagin return...

This time they try to come on board during the second watch, which has Daloren and Pug up, along with Chin and two crew. This time, however, the group on board the ship spot the intruders first. They get themselves into position so that the sahuagin don't have an opportunity to fire the crossbows. Pug and Daloren work in tandem on two of the attackers, taking one quickly down. Chin and the two sailors do the same to the other two creatures. The remaining two creatures try to hit the group, but only succeed in slightly wounding Chin.

The adventurers and sailors pound on the remaining sahuagin, killing them both. It was over before it even started. This time, they killed them all.

Frosting 16th, 744 YND

Good weather continues to prevail and all are pretty sure that the sahuagin won't be back since none of them escaped. (DM's note: the sahuagin were on a sporting trip. Each one was attempting to throw victims overboard and then leap off the ship to fight in their own element. They were trying to each kill one man or woman, cut off the head and take it with them. Unfortunately, they only partially succeeded on the first night.)

Frosting 19th, 744 YND

Sailing has gone well for the past several days. Good winds have propelled the ship to the point where they are almost half way to Zoa. During the morning today, however, the watchman cries out and points frantically to the northeast. There, a quarter mile away and making a lazy course toward the ship, is a serpent at least 30 feet long. Captain Pocaat orders the helmsman to bring the ship about and to the southwest but the serpent by then is making a course directly toward the Forsaken.

The serpent is about 420 feet away when the crew opens fire with the single ballista on board the Forsaken. Chin and Pug utilize some of the heavy crossbows they recovered in their fight with the sahuagin to take pot shots at the creature. The crossbows hit once or twice and when the creature is about 270 feet away, it submerges.

Time passes very slowly as everyone is frantically looking for the serpent. All of a sudden, it climbs aboard the front side of the ship after swimming underneath it. It attacks Shaedra, severely wounding her. The crew turn the ballista in its direction, fires and hits it. Pug runs up to help Shaedra, but takes severe damage from a bite by the serpent (DM's note: AoO, the serpent has a 10 ft. reach) and before he knows it, he is unconscious in the tightening coils of the sea serpent (DM's note: failed his grapple check verse the creature who automatically get a free one on a successful attack.) Daloren runs up to join the fray, but just like Shaedra and Pug, takes a tremendous amount of damage from a bite, but it doesn't stop him from dealing some damage with his longsword. Chin fires the heavy crossbow he's holding at the creature, hitting it as well.

Shaedra, in the best position to see Pug, realizes that if something isn't done now, Pug is going to die (DM's note: he is at -9 hit points after the constriction damage.) So, she attempts to climb up the serpent by first ramming her greatsword into it, causing a great deal of damage, pulling herself up to Pug and touches him with her hands, thereby saving him from dying. The serpent has had enough by this point (DM's note: it had taken 50 points of damage so far, it only had 55) and retreats to the ocean, drop Pug into the deep. Chin immediately jumps overboard and rescues Pug. The crew pull them back on board where Lulla heals Pug to consciousness and almost fully restores Daloren and Shaedra.

 

[wsclark]

Session IX - First It's Monsters, Now It's Ships!

Frosting 22nd, 744 YND

It's been three days since the almost disastrous battle with the sea serpent and sailing has been going well. But early in the morning, the lookout shouts out, "Sail ho!" He is pointing ahead, about 20 degrees off the starboard bow. On the horizon, about eight miles out, a single sail can be seen. The sail gets larger as it heads in the general direction of the Forsaken. At present speeds the two will meet in a little over an hour.

A half hour later, the ship is moving on a definite intercept course, and Pocaat begins ordering the crew to battle stations. The ship unfurls a black flag on her mast. Pocaat looks at the ship through his spyglass and mutters, "Pirates!" Chin asks the captain if they can out run the ship. Pocaat tells him "No, not with them having both sail and oars." The group prepares for the coming battle, arming themselves with light and heavy crossbows as well as the ballista.

As the pirate vessel approaches, Chin and Pug wait with heavy crossbows, Daloren with a light crossbow, six crewmen with light crossbows and two crewmen are at the ballista. The enemy ship is about 140 feet away when the ballista fires, missing the ship. The vessel continues to close the range and is now about 100 feet away, within optimum range of the heavy crossbows, so Chin and Pug fire. One pirate is hit and goes down. The ballista is reloaded.

The ship is now about 60 feet away and everyone open fires. Chin downs another pirate with the second crossbow he has, the crew brings down two more with light crossbows and the ballista nails a fourth. Pug is reloading his heavy crossbow. The pirates have just lost half the crew complement. The ship starts to turn away.

As the ship turns, it is still within light crossbow range, so Pug and the crew fire again, killing two more pirates. The ship sails off to the whoops of the crew. (DM's note: This battle should not have been this lopsided. The pirates had 50% cover on their ship, giving them an AC of 18. Both the group and the crew rolled really well.)

With the pirate threat averted, they continue to sail on to Zoa.

Frosting 24th, 744 YND

Two days after the encounter with the pirates, another cry of "Sail ho!" goes up from the crow's nest. Once again, he points in the general direction the ship is sailing, a little off the port bow this time. Pocaat immediately looks at it through the spyglass, but it is still little more than a silhouette against the sky. The Forsaken closes with the ship, taking a good hour to get within four miles. It is evident that the other cog is abandoned.

The sails are in tatters and the lines and rigging hang loose. It indeed looks dead, though a figure is visible hanging over the wheel. In another half hour, the Forsaken is within a mile of the vessel. Through the spyglass, the Captain can see that the man in ragged clothing might still be alive. Another figure appears to be perched on top of the mast. The word "Hyperion" is barely visible on the sun bleached side of the hull.

Pocaat refuses to bring the Forsaken closer that a half mile, when asked by Chin if he is going to investigate the ship to see if it needs help, to avoid the possibility of plague or evil on the abandoned vessel. Chin asks if they can take the dingy over to check the ship out and he grudgingly agrees. So Chin, Daloren, Lulla and Pug start rowing over to the cog, leaving Shaedra and Thalen on the Forsaken.

As they approach the other vessel, the man tied to the wheel suddenly raises his head. His face is emaciated and thin with starvation. "No!" he screams. "Get out! Get out!" Then he coughs and his head falls down on the wheel of the ship again. He moves no more. They continue to row over to the Hyperion, pulling the dingy up along side of the ship where a gangway would normally be deployed. It being about ten feet wide here, Chin to the left and Daloren to the right climb up on deck while Lulla and Pug wait for them to get out of the way so they too can climb up.

The dingy lashed on deck has had the bottom stoved in and scratches line the sides of the boat. The main deck cover has several holes smashed in it and the tarpaulin is gone. Lying all around the mast are several dead bodies still dressed in the ragged clothes of sailors. Loose bones, many of which look to have been gnawed, are scattered about the deck. The aft door to the lower deck is gone, leaving a black, gaping hole in the quarterdeck. A body has been lashed to the top of the mast. It has no head.

As soon as Chin is about to move further in on the deck, a scream of "Attack!" comes from the companion way (which is very dark) and the creatures do so. One by one, the five dead bodies arise and move towards Chin and Daloren. But first, Chin is able to move far enough away to allow Pug to climb up on board. Daloren move to attack one of the zombies, missing it. The other zombies rise and now two face Chin, two face Pug and one faces Daloren. Suddenly, another scream is heard, coming from the dingy. Two lacedons (sea ghouls) have climbed into the small boat and start attacking Lulla, who is now all alone. Lulla defends herself with her mace to no avail. And in the mist of all this going on, a ghostly, disembodied hand is now flying around the deck. (DM's note: There is an evil cleric of Galapiti, The Harvester of Souls, on board, who has basically taken over the ship, turning the crew into zombies. He has just cast the spell spectral hand.)

Chin attacks one of the zombies with a flurry of blows, missing completely. Meanwhile, the ghostly hand touches Pug and he feels an intense amount of pain, like that from being cut by shards of glass. (DM's note: the cleric Varin has just cast inflict light wounds through the spectral hand.) He takes revenge on by swinging his greataxe at one of the zombies facing him, dropping it to the ground. Daloren disengages from the zombie by him, tumbling over the side of the ship to get to Lulla's side in the dingy, ending up flat on his face next to her on the bottom of the boat. The zombies on deck attack Chin and Pug, but have no success.

Meanwhile, down in the dingy, the lacedons each attack Lulla and Daloren. The one facing Lulla misses but the one standing over Daloren hits him twice causing some minor damage. Lulla again tries to strike them with her mace, missing, while Daloren gets up and barely nicks the one in front of him.

Chin attacks the zombies again, using his iron fists and sends one down in a crumpled heap. Pug is having a bit of a problem as he still has one of the original zombies facing him, the one Daloren was fighting is now flanking him and this ghostly hand is still flying around the deck. The spooky hand comes flying at him again, but misses this time. (DM's note: Varin is trying to touch him with the spell chill touch.) He tries to attack one of the zombies, but he also misses. Down in the dingy, Daloren misses the lacedon in front of him and also shouts to Lulla that there are zombies on deck and these things are undead as well. The lacedon facing Lulla misses again and the one in front of Daloren hits him, except this time, in addition to being hurt, Daloren can no longer move! Lulla clenches her pillow, calling upon her patron deity Boegoo, The Coddler, to destroy the abominations around her and her friends. The lacedons turn and jump into the water, while the remaining three zombies run for the corners of the ship.

Chin decides to investigate where the voice came from, going over to the companion way. He feels a sharp pain and then light headedness when he reaches the entranceway. (DM's note: Varin has used the spectral hand to deliver the spell vampiric touch, draining 6 hit points from Chin and giving them to himself.) Pug goes up to the quarterdeck to dispatch the zombie that ran up there. Lulla tries to help Daloren, but there is nothing she can do.

Chin takes a moment to hide in the shadows of the companion way, letting his eyes adjust to the light before moving further into the passage. He wishes there was more light available. His foe slips down the corridor to the room at the end of the hall, the captains quarters, and Chin doesn't notice him slipping in. Lulla climbs up to the deck and continues up to the quarterdeck intent on talking to the man lashed to the wheel. Pug reaches the zombie on the quarterdeck and easily rids the world of it.

Chin moves down to the end of the corridor slowly feeling his way while hugging the wall, searching for his foe. Lulla heals the man lashed to the wheel while Pug comes over to find out what she is doing.

Chin finally realizes that this ship is the same as the Forsaken and that the captains quarters has enough windows into it to light up the corridor if he pushes the door fully open. It is already crack open, so he forces it all the way open. Lulla finds out that the mans name is Captain Wien and that there is an evil cleric of The Harvester of Souls on board who has taken over his ship.

Chin sees an unattractive little man, small, thin and stinking of sweat, his bald head glistening with perspiration. He wears black robes with an azurite pin and displays his golden sickle holy symbol openly. On either side of the door and in each corner of the room are the remains of a skeleton, mostly dust now. Torn, bloodstained strips of canvas line the walls, giving it the feel of an abattoir. The sunlight coming thought the bloodstained sails make the place dim and red. Other than what looks like a mall bloodstained chest on the loft aft at the top of a short ladder, no other furniture stands within. On the wall above the chest a skill hangs on a nail beside a large scythe. (DM's note: This small temple to the Harvester of Souls has only been in use a week or so, but it is already a place of death and decay. Varin has been using the chest as an altar and already sacrificed more than one crew member and several valuables as well.)

Chin attacks the cleric with a flurry of blows, missing. The cleric tries to touch him while muttering some words, but loses his concentration due to the activity of Chin. Pug decides to go help Chin and gets to the entrance of the companion way. Lulla finds out that the evil cleric has been torturing Captain Wien in order to get him to sail the ship, but he has resisted thus far. She can hear the sound of battle below them.

Chin again tries to take the cleric down, but is having a difficult time (DM's note: Varin is wearing plate mail making his AC 17 when added with his Dex.) Varin again tries to touch Chin, this time succeeding while saying "I bring you death!". Chin drops to the floor. (DM's note: Varin has the death domain and the special ability for that domain is to perform a death touch once per day, which for Varin causes 5d6 points. If this roll is equal to or greater than the remaining hit points of the creature touched, the creature dies, instantly, no saving throw. Chin had 21 hit points and Varin got a 25.) Pug, upon hearing the sudden silence, races down to the companion way. He sees Chin lying on the floor, not moving at all. He moves up to the evil cleric, swinging wildly. Lulla unties captain Wien from the wheel, laying him down on the deck.

Varin attempts to cast a spell on Pug, and inflicts more pain on him, just like before. Pug is getting very upset by this point and with a mighty swing of his axe, severs the evil clerics body in half. (DM's note: Pug rolled a critical hit with his great axe, causing a whooping 27 points of damage, more than Varin had.)

What will happen now?

 

[wsclark]

Session X - It's Good To Be Back On Land

Frosting 24th, 744 YND

Pug is standing over the dead body of Varin, the evil cleric of the Harvester of Souls in the captain's quarters, out of breath from dealing with him. Chin's crumpled form lies on the floor nearby. Lulla has come inside to see if everything is alright, but is shocked to see Chin's dead body. Pug tells her that there may be more creatures on board and she should check on Daloren while he takes care of things in here. Lulla goes out to make sure Daloren is alright.

Daloren is just coming out of his paralyzation when Lulla approaches. He climbs up on board the cog from the dingy and the two of them sit down to rest while Lulla tells him what has happened. They rest, that is until they hear a loud crash and smell some smoke.

Pug has been checking out the room the cleric has been using as a temple. He strips the cleric of his belongings, the half-plate mail, the scythe and a pair of vials. He then goes over to the chest that is drawing his attention and he examines it, first by looking and then by opening it up, which is when a glyph on the chest is triggered causing Pug to suffer some damage from the fire explosion. Some of the sails covering the windows also catch on fire. Pug, thinking quickly as he grew up in a family of fishermen, rips the sails down and stuffs them out the windows into the sea. That taken care of, he proceeds to open the chest, finding a huge (for him) pile of gold coins, some gems and a couple of vials, all blood soaked.

He closes the chest up, picks it up, and starts carrying it out of the room. On the way out of the room, he crosses the threshold of the doorway, banging into the doors to open them some more. Brrr!! He trips another glyph dealing him some more damage, causing him to fall on the floor of the corridor unconscious, with a big thud and crash as he drops the chest as well. Daloren goes running to see what the noise is, running across the glyph on the floor in the entranceway of the corridor, paralyzing him. All is quiet.

Lulla hears the silence and calls out to Daloren and Pug. There is no response. She goes to the corridor entrance and sees Daloren standing there frozen, just like he was in the dingy only minutes before. Pug lies beyond him and looks to be in terrible shape, burned and covered in what looks like ice crystals. She needs to get to Pug in order to save him but is afraid to try and get past Daloren in case she might suffer the same fate. In the end she bowls Daloren down, walks over his body to get to Pug and using the power of Boegoo, heal Pug of some of his wounds.

They bring Daloren out on deck, as well as the body of Chin, the chest full of loot, the items from the dead cleric and the body of the captain. Captain Wien is in really bad shape and after investigating the remaining small rooms off of the corridor leading to the captains quarters, they decide to place him in one of those rooms on a bed to rest. Now it's time to see what else is on the ship after throwing the remains of the zombies overboard.

Down into the hold the three go, carefully looking around. As they approach the bow of the ship, they get near where the galley is only to see the partially butchered body of a man lying on the floor in the forward port corner of the room. The corpse turns its head and stares at them, lifting up a knife that was hidden behind it. As they watch in horror, the thing cuts at its left forearm until the appendage falls off, then pushes it toward the stove by the porthole. They are so disgusted by the vile creature, that they dispatched it quickly. (DM's note: Varin ran out of food and animated this zombie to butcher itself whenever anyone enters the room. He has been eating of this meat, using purify food and drink spells to keep it from poisoning him.)

After getting rid of this additional body, they continue their search, first opening the hatch at the stern that leads to the bilge, seeing that it is filled with large rocks, sand and water that has seeped into the ship. They then check out the companion hatch at the bow of the ship, revealing the same thing. Having searched the hold of the ship, the group heads back to the stern of the ship to go back up on deck, that is, until they hear some noise coming from the bilge below them. It sounds as if something is heading towards the bow hatch to the bilge. They surround the hatch and open it.

Out of the hatch pops a young human who is yelling about some skeletons chasing him. Recognizing that this person is not undead Pug attempts to close the hatch and succeeds, but not before a small skeleton of a giant rat comes out of the hatch. It is quickly dispatched by Lulla and Daloren. The human thanks the group for saving him, telling them that his name is Rufio and he has been hiding in the bilge for a least a week. He didn't think he would get out alive. Pug asks him if there are anymore of those skeletons down below and he says yes. The group decides to take them out now, instead of being surprised later.

Once everyone is ready, Pug flings the hatch open once more, and several more creatures come forth. In the end, four more small animal skeletons burst forth, only to be quickly dispatched by the group. When they have been dealt with, Rufio inquires about the fate of the rest of the crew and the ship. As they head back up to the main deck, Pug, Daloren and Lulla fill Rufio in on what they have found out so far. When they get back into the sunlight, everyone starts to let their guard down and take stock of the situation. Until they smell some smoke and it's not coming from Pug!

Daloren looks down the corridor to the captains quarters and sees it ablaze. Pug didn't get all the embers out! They quickly start putting everything into the dingy when Lulla realizes that the captain in still in one of the beds in a side room off of the corridor. Daloren goes to get him, picking him up and carrying him to the dingy while the rest of the group finish loading the small craft. Daloren quickly checks to see if captain Wien is still alive and he is. With everyone in the dingy, they start rowing away from the Hyperion back to the Forsaken. About half way there, they watch as the fiery remains of the Hyperion sink below the sea.

At this point Rufio inquires about the dead body in the boat. The group explains that it is of a fallen comrade and they haven't had time to decide what to do to pay him homage. Meanwhile, Lulla checks on the captain to find out that he has died. (DM's note: The captain started suffering smoke inhalation damage when the fire broke out and went negative in hit points. No one thought to check on his condition any more than, yup, he's still breathing. After fifteen minutes before checking again, he was dead.) They decide to roll the body over the side of the dingy to give him a burial at sea, as well as not to invited any questions from the captain and crew of the Forsaken. Rufio agrees to go along with the plan.

They get back to the Forsaken, bringing everything back on board. Captain Pocaat asked them what happened. He is especially curious since he just witness a burning ship sink below the waves. They tell him all about the evil cleric, with Rufio filling in some of the details since he was present onboard when the cleric took over. Pocaat makes a comment that he wishes he never agreed to the charter to take them to Zoa. Nothing but bad luck has befallen him and his crew ever since the group came on board. He also asks about the chest and what's in it. They tell him that it has some things they found over on the ship, possessions of the cleric, charts, maps, mostly a blood stained mess. The open the chest to reveal the half-plate sitting there, all covered in red. Pocaat tells them to close the damn thing and keep it locked until they reached Zoa. He and the crew are nervous about the contents, which suits the group just fine. They retire to the cabins for some much needed rest (and to count the 18 gems and 1121 GP.)

(DM's note: There was something else going on behind the scenes involving the players [not specific to the adventure itself, but closely related to one of the characters] as this was all going on. The player of Chin really liked the character [he is now playing Rufio], so much so that he had been trying to subtly persuade the other players to try and get Chin resurrected. By this point of the evening, he was starting to drop clear hints on what he thought the group should do. The group, on the other hand, basically was ignoring him. It bears notice here due to what happens later and the fact that they didn't try to appraise the gems they found at this point. They didn't want the player to know if they might have enough cash to actually try to get him resurrected.)

Frosting 27th, 744 YND

Finally, about mid-morning, the city of Zoa can be seen off in the distance, situated on a small bay off Reanaaria Bay, it is well built and defended. Stout walls surround the city, 20 feet tall and built by followers of Gaaria (the Founder.) The walls are well constructed and contain many stones with small engravings, runes, or prayers to the Founder. Three stout gatehouses guard the paved roads that lead to the city, each filled with militia.

Built directly into the reef, the walls to the east of Zoa tower over the waters of Reanaaria Bay. A large "sea gate" stands at either end of the coral reef, each at least 100 feet wide and deep enough to allow entrance to the largest of ships. An inverted porticullis protects each gate; the militia raises them at night or where the city is under attack, preventing any ship larger than a longboat from entering or leaving. A 100 foot tall statue of Huunaav (The Traveler) stands in the midst of the sea wall, his ancient face looking out toward the sea with a grin.

Most buildings in Zoa are tall. Most stand three stories high and many rise as high as six. Occasionally, a bridge spans the distance between two buildings. The main city docks butt up to the market directly and it is not unusual to see a ship being unloaded and goods taken directly to a booth where they are then sold to buyers. Both areas are loud with sellers and filled with the smell of cooked food and exotic spices.

The group disembarks the Forsaken, carrying their friend Chin on a litter between Daloren and Rufio, while Pug and Shaedra carry the chest between them, but not before captain Pocaat thanks them for riding passage with him and if they ever need passage again to go elsewhere. They enter the dock area and are overwhelmed by the sight. The city of Zoa is something indeed. The place is huge! Buildings seem to be everywhere and the group has never seen so many people in the same place before in their lives (well, except for Pug and Daloren who were in the militia here for a while.) The noise is amazing. Somewhere off in the distance, the sound of metal on metal rings out, while on a nearby corner, a vendor sells his wares, shouting out "Sausages!" every few seconds. Men and women in robes, togas, and furs wander the street. It is truly remarkable.

The first order of business is what to do about Chin. They ask around for where they can find a temple of The Halls of the Valiant, because, although they do not know if Chin worshipped any particular god, they figure that since he was full of chivalry and valor, the Knight of the Gods, Naemae, would be most appropriate. They are given directions to follow the docks to the right and they will come upon the Circle of the Gods.

The Circle of the Gods. Temples of the various gods surround this large plaza on all sides. Most noticeable is the Hall of the Coin, standing to the south and connecting the Circle to the Market. The Sun Spire is large and impressive as well while the House of Waves is interesting if for no other reason than it sits atop the water of the harbor.

The center of the plaza is an immense reflecting pool, 40 feet across with seats all around, making it a comfortable place to sit and read on warm days. Artists often bring their easels to the square and one can find any number of paintings of the temples, the water itself, or various persons in the marketplace.

They group finds the Halls of the Valiant and enter, looking to find someone to speak with. They attract the attention of a cleric, who comes over and greets them "Good afternoon, is there something that I can help you with?" At this point, Pug explains the history of the group, how Chin came down from the monastery, brought this diverse group of people together, only to have his life stolen from him by an evil cleric of the Harvester of Souls, may he burn forever on the ship at the bottom of the sea. He concludes with "Chin was my hero!"

Pug asks what it would take to have their friend returned to them. The cleric ponders the question for a moment, and responds "Well, it would cost you 1550 GP, and would require two other things. The first would be to perform a small quest for us. The second would be to return you friend to the monastery that he came from." The group discusses this and asks "Why must we return Chin to the monastery, would he not be resurrected here?" The cleric responds, "While that might seem to be the case, the returning your friend to his monastery is necessary for the completion of the spell." They group has run into a problem, several actually. They don't have the time to take a side trek to Chin's monastery as they need to locate Halaan, they don't have that much cash on hand and, besides that, no one knows where the monastery is. In the end, they decide to ask the cleric to give their friend Chin, a pyre burial at sea. The cleric agrees, asking them if after breakfast tomorrow morning would be alright. The group would prefer to have it in the afternoon and the cleric agrees. They leave Chin with the cleric.

(DM's note: Up to this point, Chin's player has been getting more and more persistent about trying to get Chin raised, even to the point of suggesting that the playing group adopt a formal policy, similar to the dividing up of treasure, on the subject of resurrection for characters. Basically, the others told him that they didn't think it was necessary. At this point, the player went to the bathroom and then the kitchen to get something to drink. The rest of the group now decides to appraise the 18 gems they found in the chest, finding out they are worth about 1500 GP and agree NOT to tell Chin's player their worth, in the hopes of him realizing they didn't have enough money to get him resurrected. Shaedra's player even said to him point blank, aw, just let him burn in a sea pyre! What you have to appreciate is that this player and I are in another group that have been playing the same characters for 16 years, constantly having them resurrected and when they get killed off at a really high level, reincarnated back to first level. The current groups attitude came as a bit of a shock to him.)

After dealing with the arrangements for Chin, they head to the Crossed Cutlasses, a five story inn, one of the best in town for the money. Many militia frequent it in their off-duty hours and both Daloren and Pug remember this establishment from their days in the militia. After securing some rooms, the group heads out, following the directions Veoden gave them, to find the wizard Geolain. His tower is virtually on the other side of the small bay Zoa is built around.

Behind walls nearly 15 feet high and an iron gate stands the 60-foot tower of the man they seek. Next to the gate, a large bell is set into the stone wall. A think rope dangles from it. Pug pulls on the rope and they wait. A few moments after the bell rings out, the door to the tower opens. A young man wearing dark tight robes and a leather apron approaches the gate. He smiles politely through the bars, "Hallo and good day to you. May I ask your names and business here?" The group introduces themselves and tell the young man that they are here to see Geolain, the wizard, on a mission for the wizard Veoden. The young man asks them to please wait here and he will return momentarily.

The young man returns, "Geolain will see you now." He opens the gate and with a deep bow, bids them enter, "My name is Joa, apprentice to Geolain. Please follow." Joa escorts them through the tower doorway and into a drawing room. "Please, make yourself comfortable." and with that, Joa turns on a heel and exits through a door on the far wall.

Moments later, lovely young women whisk into the room. They bear trays of cookies, cakes, and sweetmeats. One carries a small barrel of ale and another brings a delicate decanter full of sweet wine. Shortly after the girls leave, an old man with thin white hair on top of his head enters the drawing room, "Greetings. I am Geolain the Wizard." Geolain wears fine gray robes, cinched tight with a simple leather belt.

The group explains all that happened up in the vicinity of Haanex, including the Coin and the task set forth by Veoden, to find the person named Halaan. Geolain claims that he can find out where Halaan is but they will have to do something for him. He tells them to return the next evening, an hour before dusk, and he will have their answer. He then dismisses them and exits the drawing room.

They return to the Crossed Cutlasses for some fine food, drink and for some, a nice hot bath. It is a restful evening.

Frosting 28th, 744 YND

After sleeping in this morning, the group gets up and has a hearty breakfast. They decide to see if they can better provision themselves by seeking out the dwarven blacksmith Purguld, who Stiruck, the dwarf they saved from the ogres, said lived in the city. The bring the half plate mail, the note from Stiruck and head over to Small Town.

Until very recently, this area was part of the Lower Coins (a groups of hills where the most affluent in Zoa live.) An influx of dwarves and gnomes from the mountains inhabited a growing shanty town outside the north gate. Seeing a way to increase revenues, the council passed an edict trebling the gate entry. Angered by this action, the dwarves and gnomes hatched an ingenious scheme.

The refugees quickly gathered all their wealth and descended en masse on the southern path of the Lower Coins. They bought up as many local homes and as much land as they could and converted the area into a small dwarven burrough. Before those in the Coins realized what was happening, the dwarves owned the entire section of town right next door. By spring of the present year, the dwarves and gnomes thoroughly entrenched themselves in the second richest section of town.

The artisans of town resented the dwarves' new "artisan district" almost as much as the rich resented the (now) poor dwarves living in close proximity to them. Add to that the noise from smithies and the unique smells from the smelting houses and tanneries, and the tension rose.

It has not improved. The area is heavily patrolled by the city militia, especially by men on the Coins side. Dwarves have their own patrols, though they have no authority from the city. A city garrison, recently placed in Small Town, keeps the peace as well.

The group finds Purguld, who is suspicious until Stiruck is mentioned and the letter from him produced. He agrees to look over the half plate mail, giving the group a good offer for it. When asked about items for purchase, he shows them other armor and weapons. The group goes to work trying to decide what to buy.....

(DM's note: I'm waiting to see if they are going to try and use the gold from the chest, it being blood stained and all. Should be interesting. This is where we left off for the evening and will pick it up from here on Dec. 13th.)

 

[wsclark]

Session XI - Farewell Chin, It's Time To Move Along

Quick note first, Galen, the new character replacing Chin, was originally going to be a magic-user type, first starting out as a rogue and then multiclassing into magic use. Due to some conversations at the beginning of the night, the player decided that he would prefer to have another monk character as he really enjoyed playing one. So the character has changed as well as his name, which is now Rufio. I've edited the previous session to reflect the name change. Now on with the session...

Frosting 28th, 744 YND

The first order of business (while waiting for Thalen's player to arrive) is, of course, trying to convince everyone to get Chin resurrected. The subject has returned and Chin's player makes a last ditch effort to have the group find someone who can perform the deed. After much debate, the group decides that they will attempt to find someone who might be able to do it, besides the Halls of the Valiant whom they have already spoken to. So, Shaedra and Lulla go out to gather information, trying to find a cleric in the city who is capable of performing the deed. Their search is indeed fruitful, mainly because they find out that there is no cleric in the city capable of performing a resurrection. The best they could find was a cleric named Mist (Clr14) of The Traveler. Returning to the group and letting them know of this information, they resign to the fact that they will continue with their current plans for Chin's funeral.

(DM's note: This was the primary reason, hidden in the background, that Chin's body needed to be returned to the monastery. The Halls of the Valiant would do all the preparation work necessary, as well as receiving the fee and having a small quest performed, for the resurrection so that when they returned Chin to the monastery, the ritual could be performed immediately.)

Our intrepid heroes now continue their shopping spree, which actually turns into a "Let's just pick up a few things." Several decide to update their armor to breastplate (Pug, Shaedra, and Lulla) while some better weapons are found. The biggest surprise purchase was by Lulla, as Marty the pony is her new mount. Maybe now she can keep up with the rest of the group easier, since no one will have to carry her around.

After finishing their shopping expedition, they all return to the Halls of the Valiant for Chin's funeral. They contact the cleric they spoke with the previous day who then calls on two other clerics to join him. The entourage then proceeds to the mouth of the river that flows from the north that feeds the small bay that the city of Zoa is built around. It is a short walk northeast from the Circle of the Gods. When they reach the mouth of the river, attendants can be seen by a small boat, loaded with a wood pyre with Chin on top. After reaching the boat, the cleric asks the group if they have any finally words to say about their companion.

Pug is too choked up to say anything. Lulla expresses the thought that she hopes Chin will watch over them. Daloren says that Chin will be missed. Shaedra states that Chin served well and it is time for him to return to his god. Thalen, takes a torch from the cleric after the cleric asks if someone from the group would prefer to light the pyre and does so. The burning boat is pushed from shore into the bay. There is an extended moment of silence. The group then sits on the shore watching their friend leave, telling stories of his valor. After about an hour, the boat sinks below the waves. The last comment was about Chin refusing to die and it is a shame that it happened. (DM's note: This comment was said with dual meaning, referring to Chin's player so forcefully trying to get Chin resurrected. I included it here because it gave me an idea, basically of having Chin occasionally haunting the party, especially at times when they are not following the path he was originally trying to lead the group on, to go out and do good deeds. I think I'll have a lot of fun with this and will eventually enlist the help of Chin's player once I set events in motion that show how it will work.)

The group gathers their belongings and head back to see Geolain. They approach his tower at the scheduled time, an hour before sunset, pulling the rope to ring the bell once again. They wait only a fleeting moment before Joa arrives, "Welcome, friends." Joa leads them into the tower as before. This time the servants provide a more bracing selection of bread, cheese, cold meat and wine.

After chatting for a few minutes, the door creaks open and Geolain steps into the room bearing a large sack. "I want you to rescue some things for me. Some idiots who call themselves the Sentinels of the True Way have stolen several books from around Zoa. They play to burn them tomorrow morning - barbarians! I want you to save the books before the heathens destroy them." They agree to perform this simple task for him.

He hands over the large sack containing a blank scroll and three more nondescript large sacks. "Simply save the books and bring them to me. Once you've accomplished this, I will draw you a map to Halaan on the blank scroll. You need to be careful though. The Sentinels of the True Way have many allies, not the least of which is the House of Scorn." When asked if he knows where the books are being held, Geolain responds, "I do not know, but, Driscall, the owner of the Blind Beggar Inn should." and he provides directions to the place.

Following the directions provided by Geolain, the group finds itself heading into the section of Zoa called the Dregs. This is where the original town of Zoa began and where the oldest buildings in the city still stand. Home to the poorest citizens, this area is rarely patrolled by militia. Thieves, criminals and the poor rub shoulders anonymously. The houses here are run down and often propped up, though some of them show signs of having once been nicer.

They reach the Blind Beggar Inn, where a full-sized wooden beggar, eyes wrapped in cloth, stands by the front door holding out a wooden cup. Next to the door, weathered to the point where it is almost impossible to read, is a sign that says "Blind Beggar" in the merchant's tongue. Rufio drops a copper piece in the cup and the group enters the inn.

The inside of the inn is dark and dirty. A small bar with some rickety-looking tables and chairs populate the main room, accessible from the entrance. A stone fireplace, blackened with soot, lies on the north wall. A stairway leads up to the second floor but it is roped off and looks unused. A man stands behind the bar in front of a door that apparently leads to a back room. Two commoners sit by the bar milking their beers while another man lies face down at a table with a half-full mug of beer beside him.

Rufio walks up to the bartender asking where they can find Driscall. The bartender tells him that Driscall went to visit the Willing Maid and will not likely return until tomorrow. He then asks them to buy some drinks. Rufio tries to convince the bartender to provide more information by placing a gold piece on the bar, again asking about Driscall, "Are you sure he's not around. We really need to talk with him." The bartender repeats the same answer, again asking them to buy some drinks. "Not right now, we need to find Driscall. Can you tell us where the Willing Maid is?" The bartender tells them how to get there. When Rufio looks down, the gold piece he had under his finger is gone.

While this is happening, Shaedra decides to check out the man lying face down at a table. She tries to rouse him, to no avail as he is passed out cold. Since the place seems to be providing so little information, the group goes over to the Willing Maid, a tavern, inn and brothel that is a sleazy and expensive place to eat, sleep, or indulge in the baser instincts. Four stories and leaky in the rain, the place is relatively safe, though some patrons have been know to disappear in the night. Lulla waits outside the front door with Marty and Daloren, while Thalen, Rufio and Shaedra enter.

Rufio goes to the bar to try and find out where Driscall is. He talks to the bartender finding out that Driscall hasn't been here tonight and that it's not the day of the week that he usually shows up. This is puzzling to him and he goes outside to Lulla and Daloren. Daloren makes the comment "Us looking for someone who we don't know what he looks like, doesn't look good." Meanwhile, Shaedra goes up to one of the ladies present asking for a description of Driscall. She is fairly intimidating to them and they describe Driscall to her. Thalen is trying the same idea out on another lady, using bribery as the tactic. Rufio and Daloren decide to go back to Geolain to try and get a description of Driscall. Shaedra finally is given a description of the man just like the bartender from the Blind Beggar Inn. She collects Thalen and Lulla leading them back to speak with the shifty bartender again.

Rufio and Daloren pull the rope at Geolain's tower with Joa coming to the front gate. They ask him about getting more information about Driscall. Joa disappears for a couple of minutes. When he returns, he tells them that all they know is he owns the Blind Beggar Inn. They decide to run back to the inn to talk to the bartender again. On the way back, they see Shaedra, Thalen and Lulla riding Marty up ahead. They decide to try to surprise them, but Thalen notices them before they can pull it off. Shaedra turns around saying "Notch down the testosterone guys, will you!" They then exchange information as they continue back to the Blind Beggar. Upon hearing who Driscall really is, Rufio says "I'm going to go in there, jump over the bar and kick him in the chin." Everyone else groans while Shaedra says "We don't want to talk about him anymore" (DM's note: there was an awful lot of side jokes about Chin flying around this evening. Everyone was getting into it )

They arrive back at the Blind Beggar Inn. They decide that Shaedra will go in to find Driscall while Rufio holds the door open in order to hear what is happening. Thalen goes around to the back of the building to cover any rear exits. Daloren and Lulla will cover the front of the building. Shaedra walks in to find the place just like they left it before but the bartender is gone. Realizing that the man at the table would be useless to talk to, she heads over to the two men nursing their beers. She asks them, "Do you know where Driscall is?" The answer back is "Who?" She says "The bartender". "Oh, you mean Helmut. He left to run an errand."

Thalen has quietly entered the rear of the Inn ending up in the kitchen. He finds no one there. Rufio enters the Inn going to join Shaedra. Daloren decides to try looking around the back alley for any signs of tracks leading away recently. It is difficult to do so due to the cobblestone streets. Rufio reaches Shaedra and the two men saying "We need information about Driscall. What can you tell us" as he places 7 gold pieces on the bar. The two men open up telling them that the bartender is indeed Driscall, he split as soon as the group left last time and is probably at his house right now. They get directions to Driscall's home, collect everyone else and leave.

Thalen and Daloren decide to run ahead to try and possibly prevent Driscall from getting away again. They reach Driscall's house, a two story high structure, the upper level overhangs the street. Right next door to a weaver, the small house looks dark and locked. They check for other entrances to the house, finding only the two windows on the upper floor besides the front door. While Thalen hides Daloren by standing in front of him, Daloren quietly picks the lock on the door, a task that is getting easier for him to do.

The two of them sneak into the house, closing and locking the front door. They don't want Driscall to have an easy escape. The first floor consist of a small sitting room and even smaller kitchen. They hear some movement upstairs. Thalen quietly climbs the stairs going up, easily seeing a man who looks like he's packing his bags. Thalen motions to Daloren to join him, pointing out the man. Daloren sneaks up behind him and with Thalen ready to rush the man, attacks him with a couple of punches that daze him. Thalen comes barreling across the room, hitting the man again who collapses into an unconscious heap on the floor.

Daloren goes down stairs to open the front door for the rest of the group while Thalen makes sure that Driscall can't get away. Thalen then searches the upper level while the rest of the group decides to search to main level. No one finds anything. Rufio decides to go downstairs to check out the cellar barely missing being hit by a longsword. There are four men in chainmail down there waiting for them and a short battle ensues! The four men are fairly easily vanquished, but not before Rufio is staggering around at the point of collapse due to being hit twice. Thalen was also hit once before the four men were dispatched. Lulla heals them both. When they look around, they find 35 books in a pile, the ones that are going to be burned in the morning.

It looks like they found what they were looking for.

• But what to do about Driscall?
• How long are they going to stay there and will they go back to Geolain's directly?
• Will they return all the books?

Check back again to find out!!!

 

[wsclark]

Session XII - Look, There's More Bodies Outside

Frosting 28th, 744 YND

It is starting to get well into the evening when our heroes find the books they were looking for. They are at Driscall's house with Pug upstairs on the second floor watching over the tied, unconscious body of Driscall on his bed while all the others are taking a quick breather in the basement after confronting 4 guards of The Sentinel of the True Way. The group in the basement starts examining the 35 books on the table mostly containing information discussing magical, scientific or even depraved, evil philosophy. Three of the books do catch their eyes.

The first is Raspar's Silver Book. The covers of this book are made of very thinly pounded silver, bound with copper wire. On the front of the book is a symbol: a serpent wrapped around a hand, and the name "RASPAR." The book contains spells ranging from 0 to 2nd level.

The second is the Book of Carlisle. The book's covers were once fine leather but have been bleached by the sun and look water damaged as well. The pages are all dogeared, but the spells recorded in the book, ranging from 0 to 2nd level, are intact.

The third book is The Leaf and Twig. This druidic book of herbs and medicine allows anyone to learn the Profession (herbalism) proficiency as if it were a class skill so long as she has the book to reference (else it drops to a cross-class skill).

The group begins to pack up the books, while Pug feels a shiver go up and down his spine. He goes downstairs to the main level, calling out to the group to see if see or hear anything funny. Then there is a knock on the door. Pug, beginning to get worried, calls down to the basement "Shaedra, do you detect any evil?" She replies, "Yes, somewhere upwards from where I am, toward the street."

The group in the basement quickly makes it way up to the main floor. Much discussion ensues. Pug, Shaedra and Rufio go up to the second floor as it is the only floor to have any windows. Shaedra tries to see who is at the front door, but the second floor of the house overhangs the first and it is not possible to see the front door. The rest of the street is empty. They forego the idea of climbing out the window down to the street and instead return to the main level. After some more discussion, Daloren opens the door with everyone ready for whoever is there. Standing in the entranceway is no one. In fact, nothing is outside of the house. (DM's note: I handed an index card to Pug earlier describing the shiver and at this point, I also handed one to Lulla that said "There is nothing outside the house." It took a while before she realized that this included Marty, her pony. )

Daloren announces that there is no one to be seen, so Rufio heads out into the street first. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Rufio is hit by two crossbow bolts and an arrow, and is now face down unconscious in the street about ten feet from the doorway.

(DM's note: [rant] Ring! The bloody phone rings at this point, about 1/3 of the way into the session. It's work with a production problem, which means I absolutely have to handled it. I was POed about it, especially since the operator at the other end is a dolt. It takes me an hour to straighten things out, including dialing into work to make sure everything is ok. It totally ruins the mood for me, especially since the problem should not have occurred in the first place, since the idiot didn't follow directions the first time from the first person he spoke to. By not following the directions, he made things worse and that meant I had to get involved to fix the situation. And to top it all off, the original problem occurred 1 1/2 hours before he called me! Needless to say, the first person contacted and I spoke to his supervisor the next morning about it. [/rant] So, if this session seems a little shorter than the others, this is why.

Shaedra moves out of the building to pull Rufio into an alley so that she can lay on hands to heal him. She is also shot at, but they totally miss her. Someone moves down the street to the alley where Shaedra is and tries unsuccessfully to attack her. Daloren heads to her aid, taking down the assailant. Thalen heads out of the build, down the other direction, stopping at an alley where he sees a dwarf with a hand axe waiting for him. Another thug comes down the street to attack Daloren, to no effect. Pug moves out to help Daloren while Lulla realizes that Marty is missing. She listens carefully to see if she can detect anything, hearing the clatter of hooves down past where Daloren and Pug are.

More arrows and bolts fly, coming from both directions of the street. Daloren is hit with an arrow. Shaedra heals Rufio. Daloren and Pug try to take down the second thug wounding him, while two more dwarves accost Thalen. All of a sudden an enraged half-orc barbarian comes charging at Pug, but in his rage, misses him. Thalen is now dealing with three dwarves who are having trouble hitting him and vice versa. The archer doesn't miss him, however, and Thalen now has an arrow in his side. Lulla moves up towards Pug and Daloren searching for Marty.

Rufio decides to investigate down the alley way the he and Shaedra are in, but it is difficult seeing anything in the dark. Shaedra moves up to help Daloren and Pug out and is unable to hit the thug who misses Daloren. Daloren takes him out with his sword, while Pug puts the raging barbarian to rest. Another crossbow bolt flies toward Daloren, missing, while the same happens with an arrow aimed at Thalen. Thalen finally manages to hit one of the dwarves, but he is still standing. The dwarves continue to show how inept they are at their attempts to hit Thalen. Lulla hears Marty further down the street and heads in that direction seeing Marty held by someone around a corner.

Rufio comes running out of the alleyway at the sound of surprise from Lulla upon find her pony reaching the spot where see is at. The person holding the reigns to the pony drops them and runs away to the next street and around the corner. Shaedra charges one of the dwarves flanking Thalen, delivering a killing blow. Pug starts heading down the street past where Shaedra and Thalen are, trying to see if there are any others in that direction. The dwarves continue to attack Thalen, but are still having no success. An arrow flies at Pug, missing him and Pug still can not tell where it came from.

Rufio runs after the flee fugitive, runs the corner in the direction the fugitive went and stops to try and find a trail. Shaedra takes down a second dwarf while Daloren and Lulla calm down Marty. Thalen finally takes out the remaining dwarf while Shaedra and Pug hear the patter of feet fleeing across the rooftops. There is no way they are going to catch that one. Meanwhile, Rufio has lost the trail of the other.

The group gathers to six dead bodies, putting them in Driscall's house. The strip the bodies of anything they think that they might be able to sell, take the books and head back to the inn where they are staying. (DM's note: The group is in a really sleazy part of the city and I was trying to decide if a city patrol should show up or the locals were to get involved in some way. Since I couldn't decide, I rolled a d20, getting a 1. Ok, nothing showed up, but I decided that the two that escaped followed the group back to the inn and would keep tabs on them. This will fit in nicely with the next module, Forging Darkness.)

Snowfall 1st, 744 YND

After getting a night's sleep, the group sends a runner in the morning to Geolain, explaining briefly to him that they had the books and would bring them by later that day. They just needed to get some rest. The group decides to go and sell the stuff they got the night before, except for Daloren, who decides to read up on some of the books. Later that afternoon, the haul all the books to Geolains, giving him every last one. He is quite pleased and draws a map for them. It shows Halaan to be somewhere in the Reelio jungle, a 5 to 6 day voyage by ship from Zoa. He strongly recommends that they travel by sea as the jungles are known to contain many orc villages. The party considers their options.

• What will the two escapee's following the group do?
• What will Driscall do once he is free and finds ten dead bodies in his house?
• Will the city militia be contacted about the sale of ten sets of armor and weapons once those bodies are found?
• How will Marty react to a trip aboard a ship?
• How will Lulla react to Marty on the ship?
• How will the rest of the group react to Lulla and Marty?

(DM's note: I was thinking about how the group was going to get the pony to travel by ship. I'm going to have the pony be nonchalant about getting on board. However, sometime into the voyage, the pony is going to get seasick. This should provide a bit of fun when Marty starts throwing up )

Stay tuned....more coming after the session this Thursday!

 

[wsclark]

Story Hour Transferred

This completes the transfer of my story hour from the other boards. The next session is in two days and I should have the session posted sometime on Friday.

 

[Halma]

Glad to see you on the New Boards

I just wanted to say hey and to give my rating that I feel you deserve. ***** Stars.

Good Job and keep it coming. I would like to see some more Character created view points if at all possible. It was cool to see Pugs point of view.

 

[wsclark]

Re: Glad to see you on the New Boards

I just wanted to say hey and to give my rating that I feel you deserve. ***** Stars.

Wow, thank you very much. I never thought people would like it that much.

Good Job and keep it coming. I would like to see some more Character created view points if at all possible. It was cool to see Pugs point of view.

W played tonight and I'm writing up the session tomorrow. The player of Thalen is also going to write up the session and once I receive it, I'm going to post it as well, probably after the weekend.

Some strange twists this time out. A mugging. Daloren, Pug and Shaedra (the paladin) going bar crawling. Thalen trying to get into the sewers. Rufio asking anyone he meets who can cook if the have any good recipes for pony. Lulla refusing to fully heal people because they are teasing her about Marty. A seasick pony. Two apes causing major havoc to the party. Lots of jokes as Rufio's player suggest names for the adventuring party (like The Chinless Ones). Just a few things. Check back tomorrow (or today as it is now where I am)

 

[LightPhoenix]

I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your story hour very much as well. It brought a grin to my face knowing that Chin's player was making jokes after his death was finalized.

The only thing I would like to know is who wrote each story hour, since you stated that it was being rotated... Thanel's and Pug's were easy enough to spot, and I think I got one other, but overall it was hard to tell.

Can't wait to see the seasick pony

(Oops, seasick has two of those squiggly letters)

LightPhoenix

 

[wsclark]

I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your story hour very much as well. It brought a grin to my face knowing that Chin's player was making jokes after his death was finalized.

Thanks again. And it is not only Chin's player who is still making jokes (I think he has had enough of them now .) Everyone is still ribbing him about Chin. The player is trying to get the group to come up with a name for themselves and out of the over two dozen suggestions, 2/3 of the dealt with Chin in some manner. There were so many flying around I couldn't keep track of them. I'm going to ask my players to list the ones they remember and post them here for the fun of it.

I also am thinking of letting the people here decide on the name for the group, which if a good one can be thought up, I will use when they get back to Zoa. Either the city militia or The Sentinels of the True Way will just start calling them that name

The only thing I would like to know is who wrote each story hour, since you stated that it was being rotated... Thanel's and Pug's were easy enough to spot, and I think I got one other, but overall it was hard to tell.

Well, I wanted it to be rotated a lot more than it current is, but that hasn't been the case. I indicate who wrote each session, so the only one actually written by a player has been Session II - Graveyard Stomp, by Pug. I have written all the others. I'm trying to encourage everyone to write up whatever they can, and if I get any, I will post their versions as well. I will continue to write up each session in addition to any I receive from the players. Unless it is indicated in the post subject, I wrote that session.

I'm also going to suggest to my players that they join ENWorld once the new boards go live so they can participate in this thread as well.

Can't wait to see the seasick pony

(Oops, seasick has two of those squiggly letters)

LightPhoenix

I'm writing up last night's session this morning. It should be up sometime today. The seasick pony was fun but it was also entertaining on how the group realized they had a problem getting Marty off the ship to go into the jungle since the ship was anchored off the shore. Ever try to get a pony into a dingy?