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Ghourmand Vale (3.5 campaign)
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9223252" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 40: TRYOUTS</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 10</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Orchid, elf druid 10</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 13 December 2023</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>The envoy from Chendl, <strong>Viscount Torl of Willip</strong>, was a pleasant enough sort, and he had something of definite interest to the Trained Professional Adventures: a paying mission. They were to travel six days to the northeast to the city of Crockport, where the envoy wanted them to look into a new religion coming into some prominence, to the point temple attendance had significantly decreased among the more established religions of the area. The concern was that this new religion, the Ministry of the Father, was nothing more than some crazed cult, perhaps tied into demon worship or the like. The heroes were to check out the situation, then report back to the Viscount at his normal residence in Chendl, as he'd be returning directly to his residence while they performed their investigations.</p><p></p><p>Mid-day on their second day of travel found the five heroes, their respective mounts, and Shushitan approaching the small farming village of Propton. Upon entering the village, they were accosted by a handful of frightened-looking women. "You are adventurers?" asked one woman nervously, looking approvingly over at the weapons and armor in evidence - and the fact that the leader rode upon a winged pegasus.</p><p></p><p>"We are, indeed," answered Harlan. "Have you need of adventurers?"</p><p></p><p>"I fear we do. Yesterday, we were approached by a local dryad, <strong>Sylvie</strong>, seeking assistance to drive out a band of harpies from her grove, some two hours away. A bunch of our menfolk went out to aid her this time yesterday and have not returned. We fear for the worst - save for an old, retired ranger and a blacksmith, none of the men have much experience in the fighting arts, as we mostly make our living raising sheep. Could you find it in your hearts to seek out our husbands and sons, to ensure they have not run afoul of the harpies? We haven't much in the way of payment, but we could offer you up a fine sheep."</p><p></p><p>"We shall not worry about payment," assured Harlan. "Tell us the way to this Sylvie's Grove and we shall investigate immediately." Instructions were given, as were many thanks, and the heroes were off along a mostly parallel path to the direction in which they had been headed in any case. Two hours on foot was less than a quarter of that on horseback, and the heroes soon found the landmark indicating the final turn to Sylvie's Grove, which would be about 600 feet away. Harlan stopped everyone there to cast preparatory spells and make plans.</p><p></p><p>Alistair cast <em>mage armor</em> and <em>shield</em> spells on himself, then granted everyone the benefit of a <em>cat's grace</em> spell. Gathering the group's ammunition into a pile, he cast <em>flame arrow</em> upon the lot, and then finished off with a <em>haste</em> spell cast upon the group. Harlan cast <em>protection from evil</em>, <em>bull's strength</em>, and <em>eagle's splendor</em> spells upon himself and a <em>bless</em> spell upon the entire group. Orchid cast <em>barkskin</em> spells upon herself and Harlan, <em>resistance</em> spells upon the five heroes and Shushitan, then cast the spells <em>animal growth</em> and <em>magic fang</em> upon her timber wolf, finishing off with a <em>speak with animals</em> spell on herself so she could communicate with Ambrose and Shushitan even if she ended up wildshaping into an animal form herself. She then climbed up upon her wolf's back, riding him like a horse.</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris opened the extradimensional dwelling from her necklace and Carruthers stepped out at his master's bidding. "Harpies are said to be able to charm their victims with their song," Alistair advised the group. "Carruthers, at least, should be immune. But as far as I'm aware, the only way to negate the charm effect once in place is to kill the singing harpy."</p><p></p><p>"I'll target any that might ensnare any of you with their song," Harlan promised. He looked around at his group and saw everyone was in readiness. "Very well, then: Chaevaris, seek your target."</p><p></p><p>The elf archer crept forward in the direction of the dryad's grove, which consisted mainly of five large trees laid out like the pips on the "5" side of a standard gaming die, the central tree being the largest of the group. There was some sort of leafy vegetation on the ground around this central tree, but it was the two harpies in its branches that drew the archer's attention. She carefully targeted the eye of one of the harpies, who were obliviously chewing on what looked to be human legs - it seemed at least some of the menfolk from Propton had indeed met up with the dire fate their wives had feared. "Got one," she said quietly, and Harlan gave the signal to advance.</p><p></p><p>Nova flapped his wings and took off, flying low to the ground so as not to attract undue attention. Orchid, astride Shushitan, followed in their wake, the enlarged wolf unable to run as fast as the celestial pegasus could fly. Alistair and Ageratum, both dismounted from their horses and the little halfling invisible after activating her magic bracelet, gathered up beside Carruthers and the sorcerer used a <em>dimension door</em> spell to teleport them behind the trunk of the southeastern tree, where they remained hidden from the two harpies in the central tree's branches, some 25 feet high. From her closer vantage point, Ageratum could see the bodies of several humans and at least two harpies on the ground among the plant growths, and frowned in puzzlement as the vines tugged upon a corpse, drawing it closer into its central mass. It appeared the harpies weren't the only foes they'd have to deal with in the dryad's grove!</p><p></p><p>Relying upon her invisibility to keep her from harm, Ageratum ran between the moving fronds of the two assassin vines - there was one on either side of the central tree, but with their tendrils spread out along the forest floor they reached almost all the way around the tree's wide trunk - and leaped up as high as she could, her feet sticking to the trunk due to the magic of her <em>cloak of arachnida</em>. <em>Spider climbing</em> up the trunk while <em>hasted</em>, she scurried up as quickly as any squirrel. She froze upon hearing the voice of one of the harpies asking suddenly, "You hear anything?"</p><p></p><p>"Yeah," replied the other harpy, chewing the meat off a shin bone. "Don't see nothin', though."</p><p></p><p>"Probably squirrels," decided the first harpy, <strong>Adele</strong>. "But best to check in any case." She started flapping her wings, intending to fly around the grove, but her flight was cut short when Chaevaris released her first arrow, which flew across the distance and buried itself into the harpy's right eye, the arrowhead sticking out the back of her head. With a shriek, she collapsed over the side of the tree and face-planted onto the ground, quite obviously already dead. The nearest vine skittered over her way and wrapped around a filthy talon, dragging the harpy's corpse closer to the assassin vine's central maw.</p><p></p><p>Another voice called out from another tree, the one at the northeast corner of the grove, "We've got intruders! Remember now, <strong>Barbara</strong>, I'm seeing how good you are with your bow, you stupid bimbo!" As if to demonstrate, the harpy archer shot an arrow of her own directly into the broad chest of Carruthers, who was hidden from view from those in the central tree but perfectly visible from <strong>Carly</strong>'s own perch. The arrow struck with pinpoint accuracy, embedded in a wooden section of the shield guardian's chest. Carruthers ignored it, having been given no instructions as to the matter.</p><p></p><p>Barbara flew east to where she too could see Carruthers and fired off a shot of her own, this one missing the shield guardian entirely. If the harpy had hoped to impress her potential new boss, she was starting off on the wrong foot!</p><p></p><p>Alistair moved around the southeastern tree, saw Carly 20 feet high up in her tree, and fired of a <em>maximized scorching ray</em> spell through his <em>metamagic rod</em>. Only one of the two gouts of fire hit its mark, the other one setting ablaze a branch to the harpy archer's right. Carruthers moved forward, placing himself between his master and the harpy archer screaming epithets while she patted her singed feathers down to ensure they didn't ignite. Already, his innate self-healing protocols were in effect, repairing the damage he'd taken from Carly's arrow.</p><p></p><p>Ageratum had made it up to the same height as Barbara and stabbed at the harpy with her short sword, becoming visible as a result. Her blade-thrust struck true, eliciting a squawk of pain and outrage from the harpy.</p><p></p><p>Nova and Harlan had just about arrived at the grove by this time, Orchid and Shushitan still a ways away. The paladin had his <em>Starblade</em> out, ready to slice its flaming blade into the first harpy he could reach. He saw the bodies entwined in the vines below him and was saddened to see one that was more than likely the dryad Sylvie herself. From what he could see, none of the original "assault team" had made it out alive.</p><p></p><p>Back by Zephyr and Munson, Chaevaris moved east and lined up her next shot, targeting Carly. The harpy archer started flapping her wings to fly away, and Chaevaris released her arrow, sending it into her breast - not in the eye, as she had hoped. But the arrow didn't prevent Carly from flying east, to a point where she could see the upstart human with the flame spell, and shot an arrow down at him, striking him in the thigh. He cried out in pain and belatedly activated Carruthers' <em>shield other</em> effect, which would magically absorb half of the wounds the sorcerer would take from now on.</p><p></p><p>Barbara flapped frantically away from the stab-happy halfling standing somehow on the side of the tree trunk. Then, ignoring the fact that she and her four sisters had originally been trying out for a spot as part of Carly's troupe and had been told to show off their archery skills, she burst out with her captivating song, knowing if it took effect the halfling would be unable to attack her any further; would, in fact, simply stand there engrossed in her song as the harpy eviscerated her with her wickedly sharp talons. Sure enough, Ageratum was mesmerized by Barbara's song, lowering her weapons and staring over at the flapping harpy as if in deepest admiration. Alistair was also within range of the song but was able to shield his mental defenses against its charming effect; Harlan and Nova were also just now flying into range but they were both protected by the paladin's <em>protection from evil</em> spell, which hedged out such mental assaults.</p><p></p><p>In fact, Nova switched course midair and made an aerial dash for Barbara, kicking out with a hoof while Harlan landed the killing blow with his <em>holy flaming burst longsword</em>. Barbara plummeted to the ground and Ageratum found her mind once again her own.</p><p></p><p>Stepping beside Carruthers, Alistair sent a <em>cone of cold</em> blasting up at Carly, frosting her feathers white. But then Carruthers stepped protectively in front of his master again, his expressionless face showing no sign of exasperation that he was being tasked with preventing harm from coming to a person who kept stepping right in its way. Instead, he simply mindlessly obeyed his instructions to the best of his ability.</p><p></p><p>Shushitan was now close enough to the grove for Orchid to see the fighting going on. She didn't see Ageratum, on the other side of the central tree from her, slap her bracelet and return to invisibility while climbing back down to the ground, still avoiding the writhing fronds of the two assassin vines. Far behind her, Chaevaris opted to go for speed over accuracy and sent a trio of arrows flying at Carly, two of them finding their mark.</p><p></p><p>Carly came to the same decision Barbara had a moment ago: better to try to charm as many of these invaders as possible! She drank down a quick <em>potion of cure light wounds</em> stored in her nest to undo some of the damage her body had taken, and then began her own beguiling song, one seemingly far too beautiful to have come from such an ugly creature, with lines of crap staining her tail-feathers and the withered face of an aged crone. Alistair's mind was once again up to the challenge of successfully defending against the charm, and this time so too was Ageratum's. Orchid, however, fared more poorly, and she subtly changed Shushitan's direction to go straight towards the singing harpy archer, not so she could attack Carly but rather so she could submit to her will. Shushitan, whose mind was unaffected by the harpy's song, did his mistress's bidding and started running Carly's way.</p><p></p><p>But Nova was still flying in the area and changed direction to go charge Carly as she sang. Leaning off to the side and in front of his mount's flapping wing, Harlan channeled Pelor's smiting energy into his sword and swung the <em>Starblade</em> into Carly's own feathered appendage, nearly slicing her wing off and sending her crashing lifelessly to the ground.</p><p></p><p>With the threat of the harpies overcome, Alistair vowed to clear the area of the assassin vines as well, aiming his <em>metamagic rod</em> at the closest and ready to channel another <em>maximized scorching ray</em> at it. But Orchid, having regained her own senses upon Carly's death, argued they should let it live. "It's merely a plant," she insisted. "It should be allowed to live, the same as any other plant."</p><p></p><p>"Are they sentient?" Alistair asked.</p><p></p><p>"No, merely plants," replied Orchid.</p><p></p><p>Alistair looked over at Harlan. "Are they evil?" he asked. The paladin concentrated on the plants' auras and shook his head in the negative.</p><p></p><p>"Well, let them go live someplace other than a dryad's grove," Alistair said, sending one blast of his <em>maximized scorching ray</em> spell at each plant and sending them ablaze, much to Orchid's horror. "They've got a taste of human flesh," Alistair explained to the druid. "We don't want them seeking out other such sustenance." Orchid merely narrowed her eyes in anger, the task already done.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, I got something over here!" called out Ageratum, hoping to get the others to drop the point of contention. While they'd been arguing over the assassin vines, she'd been examining the central tree's trunk, having heard that nymphs and dryads lived inside hollow trees. Sure enough, she'd found a hidden door in the living trunk and figured out how it opened. Inside was a sort of sitting room, inside which were the dryad's treasures: a small chest full of platinum coins, a silver tea seat, and a jewelry case containing a fancy tiara covered in gems. Chaevaris opened the door to their extradimensional home and placed the treasures inside. Upon Alistair's orders, Carruthers also entered the dwelling, only to be stored away when Chaevaris caused the door to disappear once again.</p><p></p><p>Ageratum then led the others to check out the bodies of the harpies they'd slain. The two aspiring members of Carly's troupe had simple longbows of not very impressive craftsmanship, but the leader had wielded a magic longbow that imbued its arrows with cold energy, and her quiver held 10 arrows with cold iron heads and an equal number of arrows whose heads were crafted of silver. Chaevaris took the arrows and passed the longbow over to Orchid for her use. Carly also wore magic studded leather armor over her humanoid upper torso which, like all magical armor, resized itself to fit the wearer. Ageratum, upon <em>spider climbing</em> up to Carly's nest - the flaming branches having burned themselves out due to a recent rain in the past week - found a handful of potions that she added to the group's takings.</p><p></p><p>"Not a bad haul," she said enthusiastically.</p><p></p><p>"For us," agreed Chaevaris. Then, looking over at the slain men whose bodies were burning along with the assassin vines, she added, "Not so much for them."</p><p></p><p>"They should never have sent out civilians to do a job requiring Trained Professional Adventurers," mourned Alistair.</p><p></p><p>"Who's going to tell the women back in Propton what happened to their men?" asked Ageratum. All eyes immediately turned to Harlan, their unofficial leader.</p><p></p><p>Harlan sighed. "I will do it," he promised.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>As a result of how this adventure turned out, I now refer to Propton as "The Village of Sad, Lonely Women in Need of Immediate Comfort."</p><p></p><p>Dan had originally envisioned setting us up against a group of five harpies, a harpy archer, and two assassin vines and bounced the idea off me at work prior to running this adventure. (He often does this, as he's still learning the ropes of DMing and he sends me a list of needed initiative cards and minis before each game, as we play at our house and it would be too difficult to drag all of our minis to Dan's house were we to play there.) I warned him six harpies against a party of 10th-level PCs was asking for a TPK; Alistair has a +8 to his Will saves, so against six separate <em>captivating song</em> attacks, he had a 4% chance of surviving; Harlan, with his +10 to Will saves, had a whopping 11% chance of not falling sway to one of the six. And, as I pointed out, once all of us were charmed there was no way to get out of it; our mounts couldn't save us as they were just as susceptible to charming. It was for this reason Dan decided at the last minute that three harpies had already been slain (way to go, Propton menfolk!) and the others were being told to concentrate on their archery skills to prove their worth to Carly.</p><p></p><p>Incidentally, Dan said he named the three harpies after famous female vocalists: Adele, Barbara (Streisand), and Carly (Simon). I don't recall what he had in store for the other three, but they were given names starting with D, E, and F; I think the "E" would have stood for "Enya."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 9223252, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 40: TRYOUTS[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 10[/INDENT] [INDENT] Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 10[/INDENT] [INDENT] Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 10[/INDENT] [INDENT] Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 10[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Orchid, elf druid 10[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 13 December 2023 - - - The envoy from Chendl, [B]Viscount Torl of Willip[/B], was a pleasant enough sort, and he had something of definite interest to the Trained Professional Adventures: a paying mission. They were to travel six days to the northeast to the city of Crockport, where the envoy wanted them to look into a new religion coming into some prominence, to the point temple attendance had significantly decreased among the more established religions of the area. The concern was that this new religion, the Ministry of the Father, was nothing more than some crazed cult, perhaps tied into demon worship or the like. The heroes were to check out the situation, then report back to the Viscount at his normal residence in Chendl, as he'd be returning directly to his residence while they performed their investigations. Mid-day on their second day of travel found the five heroes, their respective mounts, and Shushitan approaching the small farming village of Propton. Upon entering the village, they were accosted by a handful of frightened-looking women. "You are adventurers?" asked one woman nervously, looking approvingly over at the weapons and armor in evidence - and the fact that the leader rode upon a winged pegasus. "We are, indeed," answered Harlan. "Have you need of adventurers?" "I fear we do. Yesterday, we were approached by a local dryad, [B]Sylvie[/B], seeking assistance to drive out a band of harpies from her grove, some two hours away. A bunch of our menfolk went out to aid her this time yesterday and have not returned. We fear for the worst - save for an old, retired ranger and a blacksmith, none of the men have much experience in the fighting arts, as we mostly make our living raising sheep. Could you find it in your hearts to seek out our husbands and sons, to ensure they have not run afoul of the harpies? We haven't much in the way of payment, but we could offer you up a fine sheep." "We shall not worry about payment," assured Harlan. "Tell us the way to this Sylvie's Grove and we shall investigate immediately." Instructions were given, as were many thanks, and the heroes were off along a mostly parallel path to the direction in which they had been headed in any case. Two hours on foot was less than a quarter of that on horseback, and the heroes soon found the landmark indicating the final turn to Sylvie's Grove, which would be about 600 feet away. Harlan stopped everyone there to cast preparatory spells and make plans. Alistair cast [I]mage armor[/I] and [I]shield[/I] spells on himself, then granted everyone the benefit of a [I]cat's grace[/I] spell. Gathering the group's ammunition into a pile, he cast [I]flame arrow[/I] upon the lot, and then finished off with a [I]haste[/I] spell cast upon the group. Harlan cast [I]protection from evil[/I], [I]bull's strength[/I], and [I]eagle's splendor[/I] spells upon himself and a [I]bless[/I] spell upon the entire group. Orchid cast [I]barkskin[/I] spells upon herself and Harlan, [I]resistance[/I] spells upon the five heroes and Shushitan, then cast the spells [I]animal growth[/I] and [I]magic fang[/I] upon her timber wolf, finishing off with a [I]speak with animals[/I] spell on herself so she could communicate with Ambrose and Shushitan even if she ended up wildshaping into an animal form herself. She then climbed up upon her wolf's back, riding him like a horse. Chaevaris opened the extradimensional dwelling from her necklace and Carruthers stepped out at his master's bidding. "Harpies are said to be able to charm their victims with their song," Alistair advised the group. "Carruthers, at least, should be immune. But as far as I'm aware, the only way to negate the charm effect once in place is to kill the singing harpy." "I'll target any that might ensnare any of you with their song," Harlan promised. He looked around at his group and saw everyone was in readiness. "Very well, then: Chaevaris, seek your target." The elf archer crept forward in the direction of the dryad's grove, which consisted mainly of five large trees laid out like the pips on the "5" side of a standard gaming die, the central tree being the largest of the group. There was some sort of leafy vegetation on the ground around this central tree, but it was the two harpies in its branches that drew the archer's attention. She carefully targeted the eye of one of the harpies, who were obliviously chewing on what looked to be human legs - it seemed at least some of the menfolk from Propton had indeed met up with the dire fate their wives had feared. "Got one," she said quietly, and Harlan gave the signal to advance. Nova flapped his wings and took off, flying low to the ground so as not to attract undue attention. Orchid, astride Shushitan, followed in their wake, the enlarged wolf unable to run as fast as the celestial pegasus could fly. Alistair and Ageratum, both dismounted from their horses and the little halfling invisible after activating her magic bracelet, gathered up beside Carruthers and the sorcerer used a [I]dimension door[/I] spell to teleport them behind the trunk of the southeastern tree, where they remained hidden from the two harpies in the central tree's branches, some 25 feet high. From her closer vantage point, Ageratum could see the bodies of several humans and at least two harpies on the ground among the plant growths, and frowned in puzzlement as the vines tugged upon a corpse, drawing it closer into its central mass. It appeared the harpies weren't the only foes they'd have to deal with in the dryad's grove! Relying upon her invisibility to keep her from harm, Ageratum ran between the moving fronds of the two assassin vines - there was one on either side of the central tree, but with their tendrils spread out along the forest floor they reached almost all the way around the tree's wide trunk - and leaped up as high as she could, her feet sticking to the trunk due to the magic of her [I]cloak of arachnida[/I]. [I]Spider climbing[/I] up the trunk while [I]hasted[/I], she scurried up as quickly as any squirrel. She froze upon hearing the voice of one of the harpies asking suddenly, "You hear anything?" "Yeah," replied the other harpy, chewing the meat off a shin bone. "Don't see nothin', though." "Probably squirrels," decided the first harpy, [B]Adele[/B]. "But best to check in any case." She started flapping her wings, intending to fly around the grove, but her flight was cut short when Chaevaris released her first arrow, which flew across the distance and buried itself into the harpy's right eye, the arrowhead sticking out the back of her head. With a shriek, she collapsed over the side of the tree and face-planted onto the ground, quite obviously already dead. The nearest vine skittered over her way and wrapped around a filthy talon, dragging the harpy's corpse closer to the assassin vine's central maw. Another voice called out from another tree, the one at the northeast corner of the grove, "We've got intruders! Remember now, [B]Barbara[/B], I'm seeing how good you are with your bow, you stupid bimbo!" As if to demonstrate, the harpy archer shot an arrow of her own directly into the broad chest of Carruthers, who was hidden from view from those in the central tree but perfectly visible from [B]Carly[/B]'s own perch. The arrow struck with pinpoint accuracy, embedded in a wooden section of the shield guardian's chest. Carruthers ignored it, having been given no instructions as to the matter. Barbara flew east to where she too could see Carruthers and fired off a shot of her own, this one missing the shield guardian entirely. If the harpy had hoped to impress her potential new boss, she was starting off on the wrong foot! Alistair moved around the southeastern tree, saw Carly 20 feet high up in her tree, and fired of a [I]maximized scorching ray[/I] spell through his [I]metamagic rod[/I]. Only one of the two gouts of fire hit its mark, the other one setting ablaze a branch to the harpy archer's right. Carruthers moved forward, placing himself between his master and the harpy archer screaming epithets while she patted her singed feathers down to ensure they didn't ignite. Already, his innate self-healing protocols were in effect, repairing the damage he'd taken from Carly's arrow. Ageratum had made it up to the same height as Barbara and stabbed at the harpy with her short sword, becoming visible as a result. Her blade-thrust struck true, eliciting a squawk of pain and outrage from the harpy. Nova and Harlan had just about arrived at the grove by this time, Orchid and Shushitan still a ways away. The paladin had his [I]Starblade[/I] out, ready to slice its flaming blade into the first harpy he could reach. He saw the bodies entwined in the vines below him and was saddened to see one that was more than likely the dryad Sylvie herself. From what he could see, none of the original "assault team" had made it out alive. Back by Zephyr and Munson, Chaevaris moved east and lined up her next shot, targeting Carly. The harpy archer started flapping her wings to fly away, and Chaevaris released her arrow, sending it into her breast - not in the eye, as she had hoped. But the arrow didn't prevent Carly from flying east, to a point where she could see the upstart human with the flame spell, and shot an arrow down at him, striking him in the thigh. He cried out in pain and belatedly activated Carruthers' [I]shield other[/I] effect, which would magically absorb half of the wounds the sorcerer would take from now on. Barbara flapped frantically away from the stab-happy halfling standing somehow on the side of the tree trunk. Then, ignoring the fact that she and her four sisters had originally been trying out for a spot as part of Carly's troupe and had been told to show off their archery skills, she burst out with her captivating song, knowing if it took effect the halfling would be unable to attack her any further; would, in fact, simply stand there engrossed in her song as the harpy eviscerated her with her wickedly sharp talons. Sure enough, Ageratum was mesmerized by Barbara's song, lowering her weapons and staring over at the flapping harpy as if in deepest admiration. Alistair was also within range of the song but was able to shield his mental defenses against its charming effect; Harlan and Nova were also just now flying into range but they were both protected by the paladin's [I]protection from evil[/I] spell, which hedged out such mental assaults. In fact, Nova switched course midair and made an aerial dash for Barbara, kicking out with a hoof while Harlan landed the killing blow with his [I]holy flaming burst longsword[/I]. Barbara plummeted to the ground and Ageratum found her mind once again her own. Stepping beside Carruthers, Alistair sent a [I]cone of cold[/I] blasting up at Carly, frosting her feathers white. But then Carruthers stepped protectively in front of his master again, his expressionless face showing no sign of exasperation that he was being tasked with preventing harm from coming to a person who kept stepping right in its way. Instead, he simply mindlessly obeyed his instructions to the best of his ability. Shushitan was now close enough to the grove for Orchid to see the fighting going on. She didn't see Ageratum, on the other side of the central tree from her, slap her bracelet and return to invisibility while climbing back down to the ground, still avoiding the writhing fronds of the two assassin vines. Far behind her, Chaevaris opted to go for speed over accuracy and sent a trio of arrows flying at Carly, two of them finding their mark. Carly came to the same decision Barbara had a moment ago: better to try to charm as many of these invaders as possible! She drank down a quick [I]potion of cure light wounds[/I] stored in her nest to undo some of the damage her body had taken, and then began her own beguiling song, one seemingly far too beautiful to have come from such an ugly creature, with lines of crap staining her tail-feathers and the withered face of an aged crone. Alistair's mind was once again up to the challenge of successfully defending against the charm, and this time so too was Ageratum's. Orchid, however, fared more poorly, and she subtly changed Shushitan's direction to go straight towards the singing harpy archer, not so she could attack Carly but rather so she could submit to her will. Shushitan, whose mind was unaffected by the harpy's song, did his mistress's bidding and started running Carly's way. But Nova was still flying in the area and changed direction to go charge Carly as she sang. Leaning off to the side and in front of his mount's flapping wing, Harlan channeled Pelor's smiting energy into his sword and swung the [I]Starblade[/I] into Carly's own feathered appendage, nearly slicing her wing off and sending her crashing lifelessly to the ground. With the threat of the harpies overcome, Alistair vowed to clear the area of the assassin vines as well, aiming his [I]metamagic rod[/I] at the closest and ready to channel another [I]maximized scorching ray[/I] at it. But Orchid, having regained her own senses upon Carly's death, argued they should let it live. "It's merely a plant," she insisted. "It should be allowed to live, the same as any other plant." "Are they sentient?" Alistair asked. "No, merely plants," replied Orchid. Alistair looked over at Harlan. "Are they evil?" he asked. The paladin concentrated on the plants' auras and shook his head in the negative. "Well, let them go live someplace other than a dryad's grove," Alistair said, sending one blast of his [I]maximized scorching ray[/I] spell at each plant and sending them ablaze, much to Orchid's horror. "They've got a taste of human flesh," Alistair explained to the druid. "We don't want them seeking out other such sustenance." Orchid merely narrowed her eyes in anger, the task already done. "Hey, I got something over here!" called out Ageratum, hoping to get the others to drop the point of contention. While they'd been arguing over the assassin vines, she'd been examining the central tree's trunk, having heard that nymphs and dryads lived inside hollow trees. Sure enough, she'd found a hidden door in the living trunk and figured out how it opened. Inside was a sort of sitting room, inside which were the dryad's treasures: a small chest full of platinum coins, a silver tea seat, and a jewelry case containing a fancy tiara covered in gems. Chaevaris opened the door to their extradimensional home and placed the treasures inside. Upon Alistair's orders, Carruthers also entered the dwelling, only to be stored away when Chaevaris caused the door to disappear once again. Ageratum then led the others to check out the bodies of the harpies they'd slain. The two aspiring members of Carly's troupe had simple longbows of not very impressive craftsmanship, but the leader had wielded a magic longbow that imbued its arrows with cold energy, and her quiver held 10 arrows with cold iron heads and an equal number of arrows whose heads were crafted of silver. Chaevaris took the arrows and passed the longbow over to Orchid for her use. Carly also wore magic studded leather armor over her humanoid upper torso which, like all magical armor, resized itself to fit the wearer. Ageratum, upon [I]spider climbing[/I] up to Carly's nest - the flaming branches having burned themselves out due to a recent rain in the past week - found a handful of potions that she added to the group's takings. "Not a bad haul," she said enthusiastically. "For us," agreed Chaevaris. Then, looking over at the slain men whose bodies were burning along with the assassin vines, she added, "Not so much for them." "They should never have sent out civilians to do a job requiring Trained Professional Adventurers," mourned Alistair. "Who's going to tell the women back in Propton what happened to their men?" asked Ageratum. All eyes immediately turned to Harlan, their unofficial leader. Harlan sighed. "I will do it," he promised. - - - As a result of how this adventure turned out, I now refer to Propton as "The Village of Sad, Lonely Women in Need of Immediate Comfort." Dan had originally envisioned setting us up against a group of five harpies, a harpy archer, and two assassin vines and bounced the idea off me at work prior to running this adventure. (He often does this, as he's still learning the ropes of DMing and he sends me a list of needed initiative cards and minis before each game, as we play at our house and it would be too difficult to drag all of our minis to Dan's house were we to play there.) I warned him six harpies against a party of 10th-level PCs was asking for a TPK; Alistair has a +8 to his Will saves, so against six separate [I]captivating song[/I] attacks, he had a 4% chance of surviving; Harlan, with his +10 to Will saves, had a whopping 11% chance of not falling sway to one of the six. And, as I pointed out, once all of us were charmed there was no way to get out of it; our mounts couldn't save us as they were just as susceptible to charming. It was for this reason Dan decided at the last minute that three harpies had already been slain (way to go, Propton menfolk!) and the others were being told to concentrate on their archery skills to prove their worth to Carly. Incidentally, Dan said he named the three harpies after famous female vocalists: Adele, Barbara (Streisand), and Carly (Simon). I don't recall what he had in store for the other three, but they were given names starting with D, E, and F; I think the "E" would have stood for "Enya." [/QUOTE]
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