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Ghourmand Vale (3.5 campaign)
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9229579" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 41: ALL ARE WELCOME</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: 20 December 2023</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>The heroes had almost made it to Crockport on horseback - Harlan technically on celestial pegasusback - when they saw a man staggering on the side of the road just ahead. There were tended fields on either side of the road, but as the group had traveled on, they had noticed the fields were less fruitful the closer they got to Crockport. Some of the plants were looking downright haggard, as if under the effects of a drought or a blight.</p><p></p><p>The man staggering on ahead wasn't looking that much better, either. Dressed in simple farmer's garb, he finally collapsed as the heroes rode up to him. Harlan slipped from the back of Nova and tended to the man. He looked to simply be exhausted, an impression verified by the farmer himself when he admitted he'd been walking all day without any food. His crops had been doing poorly (they'd even had a recent infestation of locusts out of the blue!) and his wife had taken the children that morning and gone off to Crockport to look into this new religion she'd heard tales of, with the thought that maybe they'd been worshiping the wrong gods all this time. The farmer took off in pursuit, but as they'd taken their only mule he was forced to walk on foot and had yet to meet up with them.</p><p></p><p>"We are also on our way to Crockport," Harlan told the farmer, "for we also seek to learn what we can about this new religion. You are welcome to ride with us." The farmer, <strong>Colin Bolger</strong>, gratefully accepted the invitation and Harlan pulled him up behind him onto Nova's broad back. The others followed behind on their own mounts, Shushitan trotting along beside his mistress in an easy lope.</p><p></p><p>As they got even closer to Crockport, they started seeing signs advertising a revival in the ruined amphitheater just outside of town, featuring the Ministry of the Father, a religion touting the ability to turn the fortunes of the local farmers around. "Seems fishy," replied Alistair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You know the best way to get crops start growing again? Stop the things you've been doing to prevent them from doing so in the first place. There are <em>blight</em> spells that can be disastrous to crops, and it's a simple matter to summon swarms of locusts by spellcraft."</p><p></p><p>The amphitheater appeared just ahead; they approached it from the back, tying their mounts' reins to a series of posts alongside a dozen or more other riding mounts. Colin recognized his own mule among them. "<strong>Tessa</strong> and the kids must be here somewhere," he said.</p><p></p><p>"You go seek them out, and best of luck to you," Harlan replied. As Colin ran off to do just that, the heroes made their own arrangements before heading into the amphitheater seats. Alistair sent Ambrose scouting off along the building, and the grackle reported back that over on the other side of the structure there were half a dozen wagons being unloaded; their wares seemed to be sacks of various foodstuffs. Expecting the potential for combat if these followers of the Father turned out to be mere tricksters as they expected, Harlan cast his standard bevy of spells: <em>bull's strength</em>, <em>eagle's splendor</em>, and <em>protection from evil</em> spells upon himself and a <em>bless</em> spell upon the group. Orchid cast <em>barkskin</em> spells upon herself and the paladin, an <em>air walk</em> spell upon Chaevaris (at the archer's specific request), and a <em>speak with animals</em> spell upon herself, after which time she instructed Shushitan to stand guard over their mounts while they went to go check out the amphitheater. Alistair cast <em>mage armor</em> and <em>shield</em> spells upon himself, a <em>flame arrow</em> spell upon the group's assembled ammunition, and bestowed each of the five heroes with a <em>cat's grace</em> spell. Then, once all preparatory spellcasting had been completed, Chaevaris rose up into the air over the back of the amphitheater seating while the others went around to the left to one of the entrances to the stone bleachers.</p><p></p><p>Harlan led Ageratum and Alistair to empty seats along the front row. There were three figures up on the stage: a man at the front of the stage, making welcoming remarks to those who had come to hear the word of the Father; another man standing at the back of the stage, wearing concealing robes; and a statue of a robed man with arms raised as if in benediction, presumably the Father at the base of this new religion. "Come, come, find a seat," cajoled the speaker. "All are welcome to hear the words of the Father." Harlan instinctively used his paladin ability to sense evil in the auras of others on those all around him, surprised to sense no evil among those on stage, but plenty of evil emanating from the robed members in the hallways to the sides, gathering up sacks and getting them ready for distribution. He also spotted dots of evil among the attendees, but this was to be expected, and none of the emanations from the audience was strong enough to denote a serious threat.</p><p></p><p>Orchid had hung back from the others, and instead of finding a seat in the amphitheater she wildshaped into a garter snake, the better to be able to go check out the rest of the building unobtrusively. She slithered along the left side of the building, crawling through an open doorway and checking out an empty hallway.</p><p></p><p>"Thank you all for coming here tonight to hear the word of the Father," said the bard on stage. "I am <strong>Marlon Kane</strong>, and with me up on stage is <strong>Jhaemar</strong>" - here he indicated the robed man standing at the back of the stage, scanning the crowd with a stern expression - "and we welcome you all! I see we have many farmers in our audience - and even some heroes, whose exploits have become known through story and song!" Alistair felt his face redden as he realized the songs he'd been writing for the bard Holyrood Carp were making it harder for them not to stand out in a crowd - apparently Marlon knew exactly who they were. "But regardless of your backgrounds, all are welcome here!" Marlon repeated. "You are welcome!" he said, pointing to a member of the crowd. "And you are welcome!" he said, pointing to another. He repeated this over and over, and those he pointed to felt a warmth in being picked out among the scores of people in the crowd.</p><p></p><p>Orchid slithered down a central hallway in garter snake form and cast a <em>spider climb</em> spell that allowed her to slither right up the wall. There was a hole up by the top of the ceiling she wished to check out. On the other side of the hole was a set of scaffolding, upon which was perched another robed individual, his face up against the curtain at the back of the stage, directly behind the statue of the Father. Thinking the elf - for she could detect another member of her race simply by the way he moved, despite his head being covered by the hood of his robes - was up to no good, she cast a <em>baleful polymorph</em> spell upon him. After all, if it turned out he was on the up and up, she could always dismiss the spell with no permanent harm done. But that ended up not even being a consideration, for the spell failed to take effect as she had intended - the elf shook off the spell and looked about him, aware there was a rival spellcaster somewhere in the area. In doing so, Orchid got a look at his face and confirmed her suspicion about his racial status as an elf.</p><p></p><p>Up on stage, the robed cleric Jhaemar was also casting a spell. Harlan and Alistair, who had been watching him like a hawk, both identified the spell he had cast by the motions he made with his hands. Alistair leaped to his feet and took a step forward. "I say!" he declared, calling out to Marlon. "Would you care to explain why your lackey" - he chose the word specifically to try to get a rise out of the cleric - just cast a <em>protection from good</em> spell upon himself? That seems a spell usable only to a person of an evil nature, would you not agree?" But Marlon steadfastly ignored him, continuing to point to different people in the audience. The sorcerer turned to the audience to see if they were incensed at the cleric's spell choice, but they too were steadfastly ignoring his words.</p><p></p><p>Up above the audience, however, Chaevaris had been paying attention to Alistair's proclamation. If the cleric was evil, it followed that the whole group was evil. She released the arrow she had been aiming at the bard's right eye, and it rapidly found its mark, piercing Marlon's eye and causing him to scream aloud in pain and shock. "We are attacked by the forces of evil!" he cried, pulling the arrow from his socket - the eye coming along with it - and casting a healing spell on himself that immediately stopped the bleeding. He scanned the audience with his good eye but failed to see where the arrow had come from.</p><p></p><p>Jhaemar picked up the litany. "Evil among us, trying to keep us from spreading the word of the Father's boundless love!" he called, likewise scanning the crowd but failing to look up high enough to spot Chaevaris, hovering 180 feet in the air in the darkening sky, for the sun had set and no moon had yet risen. Ageratum slapped a hand on her <em>bracelet of invisibility</em> and shifted from view, leaping off the bench upon which she sat and scampering across the stage, making a beeline for a robed cultist at the left edge of the stage.</p><p></p><p>Up on the scaffolding behind the stage's curtain, the elf wizard stepped to the side, as far as he could go, his back to the wall so he could see all around him, even in the dim light. He spotted the snake, assumed it was the hidden spellcaster who had tried polymorphing him, and cast a <em>Tasha's hideous laughter</em> at Orchid. But the snake-druid was likewise able to shake of the intended effects of the wizard's spell, and she was close enough to her foe she was able to strike out and try to bite him on the leg. He flinched at the last moment and her bite attempt missed, her jaws clamping onto nothing but air.</p><p></p><p>On stage, Jhaemar cast an <em>entropic shield</em> spell on himself and moved to leave the stage, inadvertently running up right behind the invisible Ageratum. But Harlan had leaped up and rushed at the cleric, his <em>Starblade</em> out and blazing. The paladin charged his blade with Pelor's smiting energy - for despite the lack of evil in Jhaemar's aura, Harlan well knew there were spells that could mask evil's identifiable stench - but missed with his swing.</p><p></p><p>Alistair brought his <em>metamagic rod</em> up, pointed it straight at Marlon, and channeled a <em>maximized scorching ray</em> spell towards the bard. One ray hit true, the other missing and hitting the curtain by the side of the statue. Marlon frantically slapped at the flames igniting his clothing, patting them out before they set him ablaze, but he was now looking very much the worse for wear.</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris activated her <em>boots of speed</em> and fired another arrow down at Marlon, dropping him instantly. In a fraction of a second, she placed another arrow into her bow, took aim, and fired it off at the cultist Ageratum had been targeting (although the archer couldn't see the little halfling). When that shot went wide, Chaevaris reloaded and sent off a third arrow, this one hitting the cultist smack-dab in the middle of his forehead, slaying him instantly.</p><p></p><p>The wizard stuck his face up against the curtain, allowing him to see through the meshed fibers and observe the events occurring on stage and in the audience. "Kill the good ones!" he commanded, and the statue lurched into a semblance of life down below. But activating the clay golem came at a cost, for Orchid got in another bite, this one successfully pumping venom into the elf's leg. Ignoring the pain, he continued on with the role he was to play in this religious scam, casting a <em>mind fog</em> spell onto the stage, between the now-animated statue of the Father and Harlan and Jhaemar, who were now facing each other in combat (both unaware of the invisible halfling among them). Then Ageratum suddenly popped into view as her <em>human bane short sword</em> was plunged into the cleric's thigh, pulled back out, and stabbed deep into his lower back.</p><p></p><p>Hearing the audience's screams, most of the cultists in the back of the building, who had been unloading the food they had planned on handing out to the hungry farmers to better cement their loyalty to this false religion, decided the game was up and opted to save themselves. Several fled to the back of the building, grabbing up the reins to the wagons and slapping the mules into action. Two, however, saw fit to get word to the elf wizard that they needed to flee. Orchid struck at the wizard with her fangs again but missed.</p><p></p><p>Jhaemar stepped away from the stab-happy halfling, allowing Harlan to get in a strike with his flaming <em>Starblade</em>. Whatever spell the cleric had hoped to cast died with him, and he crashed to the stage floor, slain by the paladin's blade. Harlan put his fingers to his lips and whistled, calling Nova to him. Back with the other mounts, the celestial pegasus flicked his head in a fashion that undid his reins - which had only loosely been wrapped around the hitching post, for Harlan knew Nova would not stray on his own - and flew around the amphitheater over to his half-elven master, who climbed nimbly up upon his back.</p><p></p><p>"Let's get out of here!" called Colin, leading his wife and four children out of the amphitheater. Ambrose dropped down out of the sky and alit upon Alistair's shoulder, where he informed his master of the fleeing cultists in the mule-driven wagons. Alistair leaped up onto the stage and addressed the audience, concerned that if they started fleeing in all directions it would be more difficult for the heroes to target the cultists. "Please, everyone," he called to the crowd. "Remain in your seats, while we deal with these fraudsters who have been causing your crop failures! You will be safest if you stay there, out of the way of any fighting!" But the sorcerer's words had no effect - the assembled farmers and commoners from the local area wanted nothing to do with any fighting, on stage or otherwise, and they began spilling out of the amphitheater from both sides. In the meantime, Alistair had no idea the statue of the Father, a carefully-sculpted clay golem, was coming to life and stepping towards him.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately, from her aerial perch, Chaevaris was able to see what was going on upon the stage just fine. She shot a flaming arrow at the clay golem, who swung a massive fist down at Alistair but missed at the last moment due to Ambrose's squawk of warning.</p><p></p><p>Up on the scaffolding, the wizard scrambled past Orchid - allowing her the opportunity to bite him again, this time on his rump - and crawled over to the hole in the wall, toward the sounds of the two cultists calling for him to retreat. They helped catch him as he dropped from the hole, then the three of them started heading down the hallway to retreat in the direction of the departing mule-carts. Ageratum had run down a short hallway and saw the two cultists through a doorway, but they were blocking sight of the wizard, who read a <em>polymorph</em> spell from a hastily-unrolled scroll and assumed the form of an eagle. That's about when Orchid exited the hole in the wall, slithered down it and cast a <em>contagion</em> spell at the wizard in eagle form. With an avian cry of pain, the eagle succumbed to the spell's effects, and a blinding sickness overtook the elf's eagle eyes, causing his sense of vision to fade away to nothingness.</p><p></p><p>Harlan and Nova flew straight through the <em>mind fog</em> spell to come charging at the clay golem, the paladin's flaming sword striking the clay form in his side and leaving a wide slit. Alistair spun at the golem, called for his trusted familiar to flee to safety (an order Ambrose carried out at once), and channeled a second <em>maximized scorching ray</em> through his <em>metamagic rod</em>. Both rays struck the golem straight on, but neither seemed to have any effect upon the construct in any way. It was only then Alistair recalled most golems were created being immune to just about all spells, each type having only a handful to which they were still susceptible. The sorcerer wracked his brain but could not recall the weaknesses of a clay golem - but experience had just shown him fire-based spells did not deal them any harm. Realizing he had a limited number of attack spells (and that his cold-based spell, <em>ice storm</em> and <em>cone of cold</em>, would be difficult to deploy without also hitting Harlan and Nova), he leaped off stage and back over by the bleachers. Most of the audience, he noted, had fled by this time.</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris unleashed another volley of three arrows at the clay golem, each one striking with pinpoint accuracy. It had faced Harlan and Nova by this time and was swinging its fists at them with an unnerving speed. Harlan managed to dodge out of the way of the two swings headed in his direction but a third slammed into the side of Nova's head, forcing the pegasus to drop from the air and down onto the stage - fortunately, a change of altitude of less than a foot.</p><p></p><p>Blinded, the wizard-eagle tried flying to safety, only to crash into the wall at the end of the hallway and knock himself out cold. One of the two fleeing cultists grabbed him up as they ran. Behind them, Ageratum charged in their direction as quickly as she could. But Orchid had the situation well in hand: casting a <em>flame strike</em> spell, she blanketed both cultists and the unconscious eagle in a sheet of holy flames, slaying the trio at once. Ageratum skidded to a halt in the hallway. "If you had any hands, I'd give you a high five," she told the serpentine druid.</p><p></p><p>Harlan swung his sword at the clay golem from Nova's back, carving another permanent notch into the golem's humanoid form. Alistair, realizing his attack spells were of no use, opted to cast a <em>haste</em> spell upon himself, Harlan, and Nova, the only members of the group within range, for Chaevaris was too high up. Then he seated himself on a front-row bench and enjoyed the show before him. Three more arrows came plunking down out of the sky in rapid succession, each one hitting their mark. Not so with the clay golem's next three swings, each of which missed the paladin and his winged steed. But Harlan and Chaevaris pressed on with their attacks, as did Orchid eventually, wildshaping back into an elf after realizing there were no more cultists within easy reach; she came around to the stage from the other side and started shooting arrows at the clay golem from a safe distance. Ageratum wandered over to the stage and nonchalantly slit Marlon Kane's throat, just to be sure he was dead, while the others gradually whittled the clay golem down until it too finally crashed on stage.</p><p></p><p>"What now?" asked Ageratum, wiping her blade clean on the bard's clothes.</p><p></p><p>"Ambrose informs me some of the cultists took off in mule-driven wagons," Alistair informed the group.</p><p></p><p>"We should see if we can track them down," Harlan advised. "There's a good chance these members we fought tonight are not all of this false cult."</p><p></p><p>"An excellent idea," Alistair agreed. "Ambrose! Be a good sort and see if you can follow those mule-wagons from the air; see where they go, and report back to me. We shall be healing up here until your return."</p><p></p><p>With a flapping of wings, the grackle flew off to do his master's bidding.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Dan used a Paizo Flip-Mat for the amphitheater - in fact, it was the back side of the map he had used earlier for the palace of Jasgund Singh. And at the end of this adventure, our PCs are within just over 200 XP each from leveling up to 11th level, so we'll be doing that at the end of our next session, currently scheduled for 3 Jan 24 (as Dan and Vicki are out of town over the holidays).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 9229579, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 41: ALL ARE WELCOME[/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: 20 December 2023 - - - The heroes had almost made it to Crockport on horseback - Harlan technically on celestial pegasusback - when they saw a man staggering on the side of the road just ahead. There were tended fields on either side of the road, but as the group had traveled on, they had noticed the fields were less fruitful the closer they got to Crockport. Some of the plants were looking downright haggard, as if under the effects of a drought or a blight. The man staggering on ahead wasn't looking that much better, either. Dressed in simple farmer's garb, he finally collapsed as the heroes rode up to him. Harlan slipped from the back of Nova and tended to the man. He looked to simply be exhausted, an impression verified by the farmer himself when he admitted he'd been walking all day without any food. His crops had been doing poorly (they'd even had a recent infestation of locusts out of the blue!) and his wife had taken the children that morning and gone off to Crockport to look into this new religion she'd heard tales of, with the thought that maybe they'd been worshiping the wrong gods all this time. The farmer took off in pursuit, but as they'd taken their only mule he was forced to walk on foot and had yet to meet up with them. "We are also on our way to Crockport," Harlan told the farmer, "for we also seek to learn what we can about this new religion. You are welcome to ride with us." The farmer, [B]Colin Bolger[/B], gratefully accepted the invitation and Harlan pulled him up behind him onto Nova's broad back. The others followed behind on their own mounts, Shushitan trotting along beside his mistress in an easy lope. As they got even closer to Crockport, they started seeing signs advertising a revival in the ruined amphitheater just outside of town, featuring the Ministry of the Father, a religion touting the ability to turn the fortunes of the local farmers around. "Seems fishy," replied Alistair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You know the best way to get crops start growing again? Stop the things you've been doing to prevent them from doing so in the first place. There are [I]blight[/I] spells that can be disastrous to crops, and it's a simple matter to summon swarms of locusts by spellcraft." The amphitheater appeared just ahead; they approached it from the back, tying their mounts' reins to a series of posts alongside a dozen or more other riding mounts. Colin recognized his own mule among them. "[B]Tessa[/B] and the kids must be here somewhere," he said. "You go seek them out, and best of luck to you," Harlan replied. As Colin ran off to do just that, the heroes made their own arrangements before heading into the amphitheater seats. Alistair sent Ambrose scouting off along the building, and the grackle reported back that over on the other side of the structure there were half a dozen wagons being unloaded; their wares seemed to be sacks of various foodstuffs. Expecting the potential for combat if these followers of the Father turned out to be mere tricksters as they expected, Harlan cast his standard bevy of spells: [I]bull's strength[/I], [I]eagle's splendor[/I], and [I]protection from evil[/I] spells upon himself and a [I]bless[/I] spell upon the group. Orchid cast [I]barkskin[/I] spells upon herself and the paladin, an [I]air walk[/I] spell upon Chaevaris (at the archer's specific request), and a [I]speak with animals[/I] spell upon herself, after which time she instructed Shushitan to stand guard over their mounts while they went to go check out the amphitheater. Alistair cast [I]mage armor[/I] and [I]shield[/I] spells upon himself, a [I]flame arrow[/I] spell upon the group's assembled ammunition, and bestowed each of the five heroes with a [I]cat's grace[/I] spell. Then, once all preparatory spellcasting had been completed, Chaevaris rose up into the air over the back of the amphitheater seating while the others went around to the left to one of the entrances to the stone bleachers. Harlan led Ageratum and Alistair to empty seats along the front row. There were three figures up on the stage: a man at the front of the stage, making welcoming remarks to those who had come to hear the word of the Father; another man standing at the back of the stage, wearing concealing robes; and a statue of a robed man with arms raised as if in benediction, presumably the Father at the base of this new religion. "Come, come, find a seat," cajoled the speaker. "All are welcome to hear the words of the Father." Harlan instinctively used his paladin ability to sense evil in the auras of others on those all around him, surprised to sense no evil among those on stage, but plenty of evil emanating from the robed members in the hallways to the sides, gathering up sacks and getting them ready for distribution. He also spotted dots of evil among the attendees, but this was to be expected, and none of the emanations from the audience was strong enough to denote a serious threat. Orchid had hung back from the others, and instead of finding a seat in the amphitheater she wildshaped into a garter snake, the better to be able to go check out the rest of the building unobtrusively. She slithered along the left side of the building, crawling through an open doorway and checking out an empty hallway. "Thank you all for coming here tonight to hear the word of the Father," said the bard on stage. "I am [B]Marlon Kane[/B], and with me up on stage is [B]Jhaemar[/B]" - here he indicated the robed man standing at the back of the stage, scanning the crowd with a stern expression - "and we welcome you all! I see we have many farmers in our audience - and even some heroes, whose exploits have become known through story and song!" Alistair felt his face redden as he realized the songs he'd been writing for the bard Holyrood Carp were making it harder for them not to stand out in a crowd - apparently Marlon knew exactly who they were. "But regardless of your backgrounds, all are welcome here!" Marlon repeated. "You are welcome!" he said, pointing to a member of the crowd. "And you are welcome!" he said, pointing to another. He repeated this over and over, and those he pointed to felt a warmth in being picked out among the scores of people in the crowd. Orchid slithered down a central hallway in garter snake form and cast a [I]spider climb[/I] spell that allowed her to slither right up the wall. There was a hole up by the top of the ceiling she wished to check out. On the other side of the hole was a set of scaffolding, upon which was perched another robed individual, his face up against the curtain at the back of the stage, directly behind the statue of the Father. Thinking the elf - for she could detect another member of her race simply by the way he moved, despite his head being covered by the hood of his robes - was up to no good, she cast a [I]baleful polymorph[/I] spell upon him. After all, if it turned out he was on the up and up, she could always dismiss the spell with no permanent harm done. But that ended up not even being a consideration, for the spell failed to take effect as she had intended - the elf shook off the spell and looked about him, aware there was a rival spellcaster somewhere in the area. In doing so, Orchid got a look at his face and confirmed her suspicion about his racial status as an elf. Up on stage, the robed cleric Jhaemar was also casting a spell. Harlan and Alistair, who had been watching him like a hawk, both identified the spell he had cast by the motions he made with his hands. Alistair leaped to his feet and took a step forward. "I say!" he declared, calling out to Marlon. "Would you care to explain why your lackey" - he chose the word specifically to try to get a rise out of the cleric - just cast a [I]protection from good[/I] spell upon himself? That seems a spell usable only to a person of an evil nature, would you not agree?" But Marlon steadfastly ignored him, continuing to point to different people in the audience. The sorcerer turned to the audience to see if they were incensed at the cleric's spell choice, but they too were steadfastly ignoring his words. Up above the audience, however, Chaevaris had been paying attention to Alistair's proclamation. If the cleric was evil, it followed that the whole group was evil. She released the arrow she had been aiming at the bard's right eye, and it rapidly found its mark, piercing Marlon's eye and causing him to scream aloud in pain and shock. "We are attacked by the forces of evil!" he cried, pulling the arrow from his socket - the eye coming along with it - and casting a healing spell on himself that immediately stopped the bleeding. He scanned the audience with his good eye but failed to see where the arrow had come from. Jhaemar picked up the litany. "Evil among us, trying to keep us from spreading the word of the Father's boundless love!" he called, likewise scanning the crowd but failing to look up high enough to spot Chaevaris, hovering 180 feet in the air in the darkening sky, for the sun had set and no moon had yet risen. Ageratum slapped a hand on her [I]bracelet of invisibility[/I] and shifted from view, leaping off the bench upon which she sat and scampering across the stage, making a beeline for a robed cultist at the left edge of the stage. Up on the scaffolding behind the stage's curtain, the elf wizard stepped to the side, as far as he could go, his back to the wall so he could see all around him, even in the dim light. He spotted the snake, assumed it was the hidden spellcaster who had tried polymorphing him, and cast a [I]Tasha's hideous laughter[/I] at Orchid. But the snake-druid was likewise able to shake of the intended effects of the wizard's spell, and she was close enough to her foe she was able to strike out and try to bite him on the leg. He flinched at the last moment and her bite attempt missed, her jaws clamping onto nothing but air. On stage, Jhaemar cast an [I]entropic shield[/I] spell on himself and moved to leave the stage, inadvertently running up right behind the invisible Ageratum. But Harlan had leaped up and rushed at the cleric, his [I]Starblade[/I] out and blazing. The paladin charged his blade with Pelor's smiting energy - for despite the lack of evil in Jhaemar's aura, Harlan well knew there were spells that could mask evil's identifiable stench - but missed with his swing. Alistair brought his [I]metamagic rod[/I] up, pointed it straight at Marlon, and channeled a [I]maximized scorching ray[/I] spell towards the bard. One ray hit true, the other missing and hitting the curtain by the side of the statue. Marlon frantically slapped at the flames igniting his clothing, patting them out before they set him ablaze, but he was now looking very much the worse for wear. Chaevaris activated her [I]boots of speed[/I] and fired another arrow down at Marlon, dropping him instantly. In a fraction of a second, she placed another arrow into her bow, took aim, and fired it off at the cultist Ageratum had been targeting (although the archer couldn't see the little halfling). When that shot went wide, Chaevaris reloaded and sent off a third arrow, this one hitting the cultist smack-dab in the middle of his forehead, slaying him instantly. The wizard stuck his face up against the curtain, allowing him to see through the meshed fibers and observe the events occurring on stage and in the audience. "Kill the good ones!" he commanded, and the statue lurched into a semblance of life down below. But activating the clay golem came at a cost, for Orchid got in another bite, this one successfully pumping venom into the elf's leg. Ignoring the pain, he continued on with the role he was to play in this religious scam, casting a [I]mind fog[/I] spell onto the stage, between the now-animated statue of the Father and Harlan and Jhaemar, who were now facing each other in combat (both unaware of the invisible halfling among them). Then Ageratum suddenly popped into view as her [I]human bane short sword[/I] was plunged into the cleric's thigh, pulled back out, and stabbed deep into his lower back. Hearing the audience's screams, most of the cultists in the back of the building, who had been unloading the food they had planned on handing out to the hungry farmers to better cement their loyalty to this false religion, decided the game was up and opted to save themselves. Several fled to the back of the building, grabbing up the reins to the wagons and slapping the mules into action. Two, however, saw fit to get word to the elf wizard that they needed to flee. Orchid struck at the wizard with her fangs again but missed. Jhaemar stepped away from the stab-happy halfling, allowing Harlan to get in a strike with his flaming [I]Starblade[/I]. Whatever spell the cleric had hoped to cast died with him, and he crashed to the stage floor, slain by the paladin's blade. Harlan put his fingers to his lips and whistled, calling Nova to him. Back with the other mounts, the celestial pegasus flicked his head in a fashion that undid his reins - which had only loosely been wrapped around the hitching post, for Harlan knew Nova would not stray on his own - and flew around the amphitheater over to his half-elven master, who climbed nimbly up upon his back. "Let's get out of here!" called Colin, leading his wife and four children out of the amphitheater. Ambrose dropped down out of the sky and alit upon Alistair's shoulder, where he informed his master of the fleeing cultists in the mule-driven wagons. Alistair leaped up onto the stage and addressed the audience, concerned that if they started fleeing in all directions it would be more difficult for the heroes to target the cultists. "Please, everyone," he called to the crowd. "Remain in your seats, while we deal with these fraudsters who have been causing your crop failures! You will be safest if you stay there, out of the way of any fighting!" But the sorcerer's words had no effect - the assembled farmers and commoners from the local area wanted nothing to do with any fighting, on stage or otherwise, and they began spilling out of the amphitheater from both sides. In the meantime, Alistair had no idea the statue of the Father, a carefully-sculpted clay golem, was coming to life and stepping towards him. Fortunately, from her aerial perch, Chaevaris was able to see what was going on upon the stage just fine. She shot a flaming arrow at the clay golem, who swung a massive fist down at Alistair but missed at the last moment due to Ambrose's squawk of warning. Up on the scaffolding, the wizard scrambled past Orchid - allowing her the opportunity to bite him again, this time on his rump - and crawled over to the hole in the wall, toward the sounds of the two cultists calling for him to retreat. They helped catch him as he dropped from the hole, then the three of them started heading down the hallway to retreat in the direction of the departing mule-carts. Ageratum had run down a short hallway and saw the two cultists through a doorway, but they were blocking sight of the wizard, who read a [I]polymorph[/I] spell from a hastily-unrolled scroll and assumed the form of an eagle. That's about when Orchid exited the hole in the wall, slithered down it and cast a [I]contagion[/I] spell at the wizard in eagle form. With an avian cry of pain, the eagle succumbed to the spell's effects, and a blinding sickness overtook the elf's eagle eyes, causing his sense of vision to fade away to nothingness. Harlan and Nova flew straight through the [I]mind fog[/I] spell to come charging at the clay golem, the paladin's flaming sword striking the clay form in his side and leaving a wide slit. Alistair spun at the golem, called for his trusted familiar to flee to safety (an order Ambrose carried out at once), and channeled a second [I]maximized scorching ray[/I] through his [I]metamagic rod[/I]. Both rays struck the golem straight on, but neither seemed to have any effect upon the construct in any way. It was only then Alistair recalled most golems were created being immune to just about all spells, each type having only a handful to which they were still susceptible. The sorcerer wracked his brain but could not recall the weaknesses of a clay golem - but experience had just shown him fire-based spells did not deal them any harm. Realizing he had a limited number of attack spells (and that his cold-based spell, [I]ice storm[/I] and [I]cone of cold[/I], would be difficult to deploy without also hitting Harlan and Nova), he leaped off stage and back over by the bleachers. Most of the audience, he noted, had fled by this time. Chaevaris unleashed another volley of three arrows at the clay golem, each one striking with pinpoint accuracy. It had faced Harlan and Nova by this time and was swinging its fists at them with an unnerving speed. Harlan managed to dodge out of the way of the two swings headed in his direction but a third slammed into the side of Nova's head, forcing the pegasus to drop from the air and down onto the stage - fortunately, a change of altitude of less than a foot. Blinded, the wizard-eagle tried flying to safety, only to crash into the wall at the end of the hallway and knock himself out cold. One of the two fleeing cultists grabbed him up as they ran. Behind them, Ageratum charged in their direction as quickly as she could. But Orchid had the situation well in hand: casting a [I]flame strike[/I] spell, she blanketed both cultists and the unconscious eagle in a sheet of holy flames, slaying the trio at once. Ageratum skidded to a halt in the hallway. "If you had any hands, I'd give you a high five," she told the serpentine druid. Harlan swung his sword at the clay golem from Nova's back, carving another permanent notch into the golem's humanoid form. Alistair, realizing his attack spells were of no use, opted to cast a [I]haste[/I] spell upon himself, Harlan, and Nova, the only members of the group within range, for Chaevaris was too high up. Then he seated himself on a front-row bench and enjoyed the show before him. Three more arrows came plunking down out of the sky in rapid succession, each one hitting their mark. Not so with the clay golem's next three swings, each of which missed the paladin and his winged steed. But Harlan and Chaevaris pressed on with their attacks, as did Orchid eventually, wildshaping back into an elf after realizing there were no more cultists within easy reach; she came around to the stage from the other side and started shooting arrows at the clay golem from a safe distance. Ageratum wandered over to the stage and nonchalantly slit Marlon Kane's throat, just to be sure he was dead, while the others gradually whittled the clay golem down until it too finally crashed on stage. "What now?" asked Ageratum, wiping her blade clean on the bard's clothes. "Ambrose informs me some of the cultists took off in mule-driven wagons," Alistair informed the group. "We should see if we can track them down," Harlan advised. "There's a good chance these members we fought tonight are not all of this false cult." "An excellent idea," Alistair agreed. "Ambrose! Be a good sort and see if you can follow those mule-wagons from the air; see where they go, and report back to me. We shall be healing up here until your return." With a flapping of wings, the grackle flew off to do his master's bidding. - - - Dan used a Paizo Flip-Mat for the amphitheater - in fact, it was the back side of the map he had used earlier for the palace of Jasgund Singh. And at the end of this adventure, our PCs are within just over 200 XP each from leveling up to 11th level, so we'll be doing that at the end of our next session, currently scheduled for 3 Jan 24 (as Dan and Vicki are out of town over the holidays). [/QUOTE]
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