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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7920071" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 10: RETURN TO THE OVERREACH</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jhasspok, lizardfolk 3/barbarian 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 4</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 12 February 2020</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p><strong>King Leopold</strong> sat upon his throne, examining the odd group being ushered before him. Two were dwarves, another a gnome; each of these three bearded folk wore metal armor that looked to have seen plenty of combat use but their weapons had been left outside the throne room - although the daughter of the mayor of Ducrest (a trusted ally) vouched that they had slain the goblin raiders who had attacked the town and returned the loot the green pests had absconded with, it never hurt to be too careful. There was a woman with the three, barely taller than the dwarves, wearing an elaborate robe and a silver circlet upon her brow. She strode directly up to the king and bowed low; she would likely be doing the speaking for the group. That served the king's interests, as she was certainly the most pleasant of the five to look upon.</p><p></p><p>But the king's attention was currently focused on the fifth member, a hulking lizardfolk with thick, green scales who stood behind the others, looking around in wonder at the king's receiving chamber. Not only was King Leopold not accustomed to these lizard-people being somewhat civilized, as this one seemed to be, but he wore about his neck the symbol of Kravyrn, the king's own vampiric ancestor and valued ally of the kingdom that bore his name. As odd of a group as these five might be, they had obviously made a favorable impression upon the wily vampire. The king would certainly listen to what they had to say.</p><p></p><p>The woman introduced herself as Marlo Pendragon and then named each member of her group before explaining why they had sought an audience with King Leopold. She mentioned the elves of Greenvale and explained their importance in overthrowing an Underdark City of drow responsible for the kidnapping and slavery of the five adventurers standing before the king. She had the king's courtiers bring in samples of gifts of silk they had brought from Greenvale and explained the elves' eagerness to form an alliance with the neighboring kingdoms to help bring down the drow of the Overreach responsible for an ongoing policy of slavery for the surface folks their raiders encountered.</p><p></p><p>King Leopold raised his hand, silencing the short woman at once. "I have heard enough," he declared. "My advisers have cautioned against allying with Greenvale, arguing it would only serve to antagonize the Elderwood elves, but those elves have always seemed to me to be nothing more than arrogant bullies. In truth, I have sought a good reason to bypass their embargo of Greenvale and open relations with the city behind the mountain wall. If my ancestor Kravyrn has vouched for your plan, as I see he has, then I will be more than happy to have my kingdom join in your alliance."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you, Your Majesty," replied Marlo with a smile. "I am most pleased by your decision."</p><p></p><p>"In fact," added King Leopold, "I will begin the construction of a new road to Greenvale, bypassing altogether the Elderwood's blockade through their forest. With a safer passage, the other kingdoms should find it much easier to do business with Greenvale as well." This announcement brought smiles to the other heroes (four of them, at least; the lizardfolk snout didn't seem particularly well designed for smiling). King Leopold called for refreshments and the group toasted their new alliance with a fine red wine.</p><p></p><p>After being escorted back out of the throne room and having their weapons returned to them, the group went back to the horse and wagon they had left outside. No sooner had they boarded the wagon than N'zorthal sent a telepathic message to the four of the slaves wearing the <em>ring gate necklaces</em>. <Find a secluded alley where you will not be seen,> he commanded. <I will open the Writhing Gate - it is time for you to return to the Overreach.></p><p></p><p>"D'you think he heard any of that business with the king?" whispered Khari.</p><p></p><p>"Not at all," answered Cramer. "Remember, the sunborn drow altered our tattoos and made it such that even the mind flayer's telepathic probings will get a false image of us doing something innocuous. We'll just play it cool and nobody will be any the wiser."</p><p></p><p>"You know, we have an opportunity here to drive a wedge of sorts between Calish and N'zorthal," suggested Marlo. "We can mention to Calish that the mind flayer's taken that book - he seemed to want it awfully bad, and I'll bet he doesn't even plan to mention its existence to the slavemaster." But then the Writhing Gate sprang into existence before them and the time for any such discussions were over. <Leave the horse and wagon behind,> ordered N'zorthal. <They will not be needed.></p><p></p><p>Steeling themselves for the journey, the five Jalamir slaves stepped into the Writhing Gate. This time, knowing beforehand what was coming, they were able to close their minds against the nightmarish horrors waiting for them between the split seconds - although some of them wondered to themselves if Marlo hadn't instead opened her mind to the Dying One's mental embrace. She bore watching, that one!</p><p></p><p>As one, the slaves found themselves back in the gate chamber. N'zorthal stood from his seat at the base of the Writhing Gate and immediately set some ground rules. <Calish and House Jalamir at large do not know about the true nature of the Writhing Gate,> he informed them. <It should remain that way, for all of your sakes. The drow are also not to know about the <em>Scriptures of Uboros</em>. Any failure to heed my warnings will undoubtedly lead to the offender "accidentally" wearing a <u>fake</u> <em>ring of regeneration</em> during my next feeding session. Do I make myself absolutely clear?></p><p></p><p>"Yes," muttered Cramer and the other four followed suit. So much for that idea!</p><p></p><p><Return to me your <em>ring gate necklaces</em> - they are no longer needed.> The four slaves hurriedly passed over the necklaces, glad to be rid of them. N'zorthal, too, seemed pleased to have them back, as it meant being able to retract his facial tentacles from them and appear whole once more.</p><p></p><p>The trip back to the Overreach was uneventful and passed mostly in sullen and fearful silence.</p><p></p><p>Upon returning to the drow city, Calish Jalamir was there to greet his five slaves. He seemed genuinely pleased to see them. "You have done an excellent job on your first surface raid!" he exclaimed. "The information we tortured out of the Elderwood prisoners was of extraordinary value to House Jalamir! Please accept these for your hard work and exceptional effort!" He handed each slave a silk bag, inside of which were 100 slave tokens. "By the way," he added, "a guard from House Ky'hulcressen is waiting for you. Apparently they wish to reward you for having saved Niradi, their apprentice weaver, some weeks ago. You have my leave to go with him." And the slavemaster shooed them away, then turned and went about whatever other business in the city required his attention.</p><p></p><p>The Ky'hulcressen guard was a gaunt-faced warrior. He escorted the five Jalamir slaves to the markets around the Ky'hulcressen pillar - which was nearly as large as that of House Jalamir, the two Houses being close in their rankings. Looking about, it didn't take Cramer long to note an immediate difference between House Jalamir's slave-market and this one: "You use actual gold coins, not slave tokens!" the little gnome exclaimed.</p><p></p><p>"Indeed we do," the guard, who had been stone-faced and silent during the journey to the market, replied. "Now that we are inside the magical protections of the marketplace, we are free to talk. Allow me to explain the full extent of your reward: you have each been extended 4,000 pieces of gold in credit for the work you have done on our behalf. In addition, you will each be given ironsilk armor upgrades, of the type best suited to your own preferences."</p><p></p><p>"I wear no armor," Jhasspok pointed out.</p><p></p><p>"True, we would need to custom-make an ironsilk suit of armor to fit your frame..." the guard began.</p><p></p><p>"I wear no armor," Jhasspok repeated. "Nor clothing. I need only my leather harness, to hang my weapons and equipment on. Armor would hamper me when I swim and fish."</p><p></p><p>"You don't fish any more," pointed out Khari.</p><p></p><p>"No matter," answered the guard jovially. "If he doesn't wear armor, we'll see about getting him an enchanted weapon of some sort instead. But in the meantime, look about and see what you'd be interested in spending your reward upon. Once piece of advice, though: I recommend spending all of your actual gold first, and then dip into your lines of credit. If Calish finds out you still have actual coins from the surface, he'll be sure to take them from you. But he can't take away the credit our merchants will extend to you."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you," exclaimed Marlo. "That's very generous of your House."</p><p></p><p>"Remember, our House extends all the way to Greenvale," the guard replied with a wink.</p><p></p><p>Khari and Utred accompanied Jhasspok to a weaponcrafter's shop, to help him pick out his enchanted weapon. While there, one of the weaponsmiths asked to see Utred's magic longsword. "May I study this?" he asked the dwarf. "I think I may be able to recreate this particular enchantment. I promise: I will return it to you before you must return to House Jalamir." Eager to reinforce their alliance with House Ky'hulcressen, Utred readily agreed. Then he and Khari helped the lizardfolk decide upon a weapon. In the end, Jhasspok chose a magical battleaxe, enchanted to guide the wielder into striking where the blade would do the most damage.</p><p></p><p>The marketplace contained a few magic shops and the Jalamir slaves spent some of their coin there as well. Cramer and Khari each purchased a set of <em>gauntlets of ogre power</em>, which increased their overall strength; Jhasspok purchased something similar, but - not liking having his hands covered by gloves - he purchased a leather belt that did the same thing. Marlo bought an amulet to boost the power of her sorcerer spells, as she was the primary offensive caster among the group. Utred was intrigued by a necklace of red orbs, and when he learned each bead was a miniature <em>fireball</em> spell ready to be thrown it became an instant purchase for him.</p><p></p><p>And then, of course, four of the slaves were fitted out in their new ironsilk armor. Marlo, who had been wearing a set she'd taken from the corpse of a slain slave during the Festival of Blood, chose a new type of armor similar to a chain shirt, but woven of magically-hardened spider silk; it was as lightweight as a normal set of clothes and would not hamper her spellcasting in the least. Utred and Cramer went with ironsilk breastplate armor, while Khari - stubborn as ever - stuck with the ironsilk equivalent of the banded mail with which he was familiar.</p><p></p><p>Finally, their purchases made, their new armor fitted out, and after Utred had retrieved his <em>Elderwood flame longsword</em>, the five Jalamir slaves returned to their own quarters. But then, recalling their new bags of slave-tokens, Cramer excused himself and went to the Jalamir slave-market, intent to try out the "Punch-a-Drow" shop now that he had a full 100 tokens on which to purchase the rental of a drow slave for a full hour. "Why does he want to spend an hour with a drow slave?" asked Jhasspok, puzzled. None of the others felt up to explaining.</p><p></p><p>The next day, the slaves were awakened in their sleeping chambers - a large room partitioned off into individual stalls - by a booming, commanding female voice resonating through the House Jalamir pillar. Jhasspok recognized it immediately as the drow language, although he had no idea what the voice might be saying, not proficient in the language at all; the drow used the "slave language" exclusively when communicating to their slaves. But shortly thereafter Calish burst into the room, commanding the five to don their armor and grab their weapons: the House Jalamir pillar was under attack by one of the Lesser Houses!</p><p></p><p>Calish led the group up to the top of the pillar and from there onto the ceiling of the mile-high cavern that made up the boundary of the city of Overreach. With the permanent <em>reverse gravity</em> field along the ceiling, the slaves stood on the upper cavern as firmly as if they'd been standing upon solid ground. "You'll be in charge of guarding this entrance to the pillar," Calish explained, indicating the vast set of double doors from which they'd exited the enormous, stone column of House Jalamir. "The lesser slaves - those more easily expendable - have been sent to the front lines, at the edge of our territory upon the ceiling. They will keep the enemy at bay as best they can, fighting to the death. As will you all, but your task is to guard the North Gate, here. Feel free to advance upon the intruders as needed, but do not let them get past you and through the North Gate! Ensure no enemies make it into the House pillar!" Cramer got the distinct impression the drow "masters" would be particularly upset if they had to be bothered to lift a finger in their own defense. That, apparently, was what slaves were for!</p><p></p><p>"Do we know who's attacking us?" asked Utred.</p><p></p><p>"A Lesser House, hoping to elevate its ranks and possibly make it into the ranks of the Eight Ruling Noble Houses," Calish sneered. His slaves noted he didn't even bother dignifying the attacking House with their name.</p><p></p><p>"There will be drow attacking us?" Cramer pressed. "And we're allowed to kill them?" The gnome well knew the prohibitions against attacking drow built into the slave tattoos they'd all been given, but he also knew the sunborn drow of Greenvale had altered the tattoos, removing that prohibition altogether. But Calish didn't know that and the little cleric wanted to give the slavemaster the impression he believed he was still bound by the tattoo's original constraints.</p><p></p><p>"Any drow attacking House Jalamir is a fair target," Calish answered. "Now: you have your orders! Attend to your duties!" And with that, Calish Jalamir strode back inside the safety of the stone column of House Jalamir, leaving his slaves to guard the North Gate - with their very lives, if necessary. He pulled the double doors closed behind him with a resounding clang and the slaves could hear the sounds of the doors being barred from the inside.</p><p></p><p>"Well, this blows!" complained Cramer, casting a <em>longstrider</em> spell upon himself. "Figures they aren't going to put their own necks on the line - typical!" Marlo almost began to cast a <em>mage armor</em> spell upon herself - it was, at this point, a force of habit when preparing for imminent combat - but then realized her new ironsilk armor made the spell unnecessary. Then she looked over at Jhasspok, the only member of the group not wearing armor (he held his turtle shell shield, but that was it) and cast the spell on him instead.</p><p></p><p>"What is this?" Jhasspok asked, looking at his arm.</p><p></p><p>"<em>Mage armor</em> spell. It'll help protect you in combat."</p><p></p><p>"I'm...all shiny." It wasn't perhaps the best description, but occasionally the lizardfolk could see a glimpse of the edge of the invisible barrier surrounding him like a suit of armor as he moved his arm around, trying to catch the light in the right way.</p><p></p><p>"Focus, Jhasspok," Marlo suggested. The lizardfolk stopped marveling at his invisible force armor and looked across the area of the cavern ceiling before him. If you forget you were upside-down, with a bioluminescent Underdark sea a half mile above your head, the area looked like any normal area around a city's gates, with a few small buildings and tents nearby and a wooden stage upon which could be paraded new slaves for purchase. There were shouts and the sounds of battle some distance away, but the combatants were obscured behind obstructing buildings.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, there was movement to the northwest, as a quartet of gnomish figures scurried around a corner and took cover. Jhasspok recognized them at once as svirfneblin, the Underdark gnomes who spent their whole lives underground - and occasionally ran afoul of the drow, often becoming slaves. This was likely the case here, with the four svirfneblin working for the unnamed Lesser House of the Overreach. Jhasspok raced forward, leaping over the slave stage platform and into an open clearing, readying his new battleaxe. The deep gnomes were hidden behind a long, low building, but from the lizardfolk's position he'd be able to see from which way they approached and attack them as they advanced.</p><p></p><p>Marlo spotted one and sent a <em>scorching ray</em> spell striking at the svirfneblin's head. Unfortunately, he ducked back behind the building in time and the flame spell missed its target. From beside her, Khari advanced, his dwarven warhammer ready to strike at the first svirfneblin to approach him. Cramer stepped forward as well, casting a <em>magic weapon</em> spell upon his mace as he did so. Utred, however, stayed in position before the North Gate, not trusting that some wizard wouldn't <em>teleport</em> in and try to get through the entrance to the House Jalamir column. He had his <em>Elderwood flame longsword</em> out, ready for action.</p><p></p><p>As one, the four svirfneblin went on the offensive. One rushed to the safety of the shadows behind a merchant tent, while the other three pulled out shortbows and fired arrows at Khari Hammerslammer. None of the arrows hit; perhaps the archers had been intimidated by the dwarven fighter's fierce glare.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok charged the first svirfneblin, bringing his new battleaxe slamming down in an overhand swing he'd hoped would cut the deep gnome in two. But he was unaccustomed to the weapon's weight and balance and the blow fell short, the blade chopping a deep gash into the stone ceiling at the svirfneblin's feet. Marlo cast a <em>magic missile</em> at the foe the lizardfolk had just missed, her spell striking true - which was normal for that particular spell - but the sorceress had noted a field of energy around the svirfneblin and she realized they likely had an inherent resistance to spell energy, as was unfortunately true of so many races that lived in the Underdark. Idly, she wondered why that was so, but then decided this wasn't the time to let her mind wander from the task at hand.</p><p></p><p>With a wordless growl, Khari charged forward at the closest of the three archers, his warhammer striking the svirfneblin in the side of the head and crushing his skull instantly. Just that quickly, the Hammerslammer dwarf had struck first blood. Utred, seeing the forces before them didn't appear to have any spellcasters among them, hesitantly stepped forward - he'd make sure he only went far enough away from the North Gate that he'd still be able to return in an instant if it became necessary. Cramer, in the meantime, cast a <em>protection from evil</em> spell on himself; he knew his deep gnome brethren were likely not of an evil bent, merely slaves like himself, but there was good chance their drow masters would make an appearance at some point during this fight, especially if they hoped to breach House Jalamir and face the drow waiting for them within.</p><p></p><p>Two of the svirfneblin broke ranks and attacked Utred from opposite sides, hoping to flank him and take him out while he tried to defend himself from two directions at once. The concentrated attack was somewhat successful, in that one of the gnomes managed to get past the dwarven barbarian's defenses and stab him with his short sword, but if they had hoped this would take out mighty Utred they had vastly underestimated his stamina! The remaining archer shot at Cramer, missing once again.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok continued his attack upon the svirfneblin he'd missed with his axe, and missed two more times - the little guy was certainly nimble! Marlo cast another <em>magic missile</em> spell at him, once more hitting true but this time having her spell fizzle out upon contact - that blasted spell resistance! But then Khari approached and swung his weapon; the svirfneblin didn't have any sort of inherent dwarven warhammer resistance, that was for sure! He crumpled to the ground, dead.</p><p></p><p>But Khari wasn't finished with his attack just yet! Swinging his warhammer around in a continuing arc, he brought it crashing down upon one of the deep gnomes flanking Utred, who at this point was focused upon the other svirfneblin and had uncharacteristically missed with his longsword strike. Cramer stepped up behind the svirfneblin fighting Khari and sent his mace crashing into the back of his foe's head, knocking him to the ground. It looked as if his chest was rising and falling with labored, ragged breathing, but it also looked as if he wouldn't be doing it for too much longer. Jhasspok, at this point frustrated with his inability to hit anyone with his new, enchanted battleaxe, decided to test whether or not the dumb thing even worked at all by attacking the unconscious svirfneblin. As his head went rolling across the ground, the lizardfolk nodded in approval and decided his axe worked just fine after all.</p><p></p><p>The remaining svirfneblin stabbed again at Utred and missed, but was then himself struck by a <em>magic missile</em> from Marlo. Utred finished him off with his own blade and then the group took a moment to look around to see if there were any other reinforcements heading this way.</p><p></p><p>There were: an armored, female drow rounded the corner from where the svirfneblin had come. Cramer, seeing her approach, ran up but kept his distance; he readied a <em>sound burst</em> spell since he could see what looked to be a duergar fast approaching as well - no sense in wasting the spell on one foe when he could unleash it on two! Once the two were close enough together the cleric released the spell, causing the pair to become momentarily stunned.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok took full advantage of the temporary opportunity, dashing forward to attack the duergar fighter in the heavy armor. Khari and Utred stepped up to focus their attacks upon the same target; the poor duergar was unable to fend off the trio of weapons in his currently stunned state. Marlo then added insult to injury by targeting him with a <em>scorching ray</em> spell, hoping to take him down quickly. Cramer came to the same conclusion and cast a <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell which caused a quarterstaff of pure force to swing down at the hapless gray dwarf.</p><p></p><p>While the drow and duergar were still fighting off the effects of Cramer's <em>sound burst</em> spell, Marlo stepped forward and cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell at the drow woman. Khari swung his warhammer at her as well, judging the duergar to be about to fall - especially with Utred swinging his green-flamed blade into the grey dwarf's side. The drow duskblade, snapping out of it at the last moment, swung her own blade at the lizardfolk's side, getting past his shield and through his <em>mage armor</em> to draw blood. Jhasspok hissed in pain and returned the attack with his battleaxe - a weapon for which he was quickly getting the hang of wielding.</p><p></p><p>Cramer's <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell finished off the duergar - a first for the cleric's use of that particular spell! - and then the gnome heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He dropped a pebble into his sling and started swinging it about his head, building up speed. The drow duskblade fell to another of Marlo's <em>magic missile</em> spells. As one, the five slaves turned toward the sounds of approaching reinforcements.</p><p></p><p>Three male drow warriors rounded the corner and came into view, closing the distance - only to be attacked en masse by Khari's warhammer, Utred's longsword, and Jhasspok's battleaxe. Behind the drow males, though, stepped up a female - a cleric of Lolth, by the looks of her garb. Ignoring his sling for the moment, Cramer pointed at the approaching foes with a finger of his other hand and cast another <em>sound burst</em> spell centered such to get the drow - but nobody else - in its area of effect. All four drow flinched at the sudden audio blast and all were temporarily stunned save for one of the drow males.</p><p></p><p>Again taking advantage of temporarily motionless enemies, Jhasspok swung his battleaxe at one of the male drow while Marlo used her last <em>scorching ray</em> spell on the drow priestess. But then the dwarves finished the battle in a mere handful of seconds, Khari crushing a warrior's head in and then smashing the priestess in the face with his warhammer, all in one deadly arc of motion, while Utred's <em>Elderwood flame longsword</em> sliced through the abdomens of the other two male warriors in one cleaving blow. All four fell to the ground at virtually the same time.</p><p></p><p>Looking about for the next wave of enemies, the group could hear the fighting still in the distance but nothing coming their way. Cramer put the dwarves on lookout duty while the others quickly looted their slain foes. A quick <em>detect magic</em> spell from Marlo helped identify which items were worthy of closer scrutiny: two pairs of <em>boots of striding and springing</em> (which were eventually given to Utred and Khari) and a pair of masterwork hand crossbows, which Jhasspok and Utred took for their own use. Jhasspok was particularly intrigued by a weapon you actually wore on your arm like a piece of armor - strange! He'd have to practice with it - and, he realized, with his new battleaxe - until he had mastered the new forms of attack they provided.</p><p></p><p>Eventually, the sounds of battle drifted off, the attackers either driven off, slain, or the skirmishes simply moving farther away and out of earshot. Despite their willingness to enter into additional combat, neither of the five slaves dared disobey their orders, so they stayed by the North Gate, determined that no foes would enter the House Jalamir pillar through this particular entrance.</p><p></p><p>And none did; after about an hour of inactivity, the gates suddenly opened from the inside and a House Jalamir slave informed the group the battle was over. Shrugging, the group entered the stone pillar and returned to their quarters to clean up and deal with their wounds.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Well, Jhasspok's got a lot of training ahead of him with that stupid <em>+1 battleaxe</em> he got - my first three attack rolls were a 1, a 3, and a 2! But the hand crossbow is pretty cool - it helps that Logan, Harry, and I are all watching the "Crossbow" series (a 1980s TV show about the fictional exploits of William Tell) and a recent episode had William using a hand crossbow. Logan's dropping the "exotic" nature of the weapon, making it just another form of common ranged attack.</p><p></p><p>But the whole reason Jhasspok has a battleaxe in the first place is I decided I'm going to have to pick one weapon and make that his primary attack. I'm running a 4th-level combat specialist PC with only a +2 Base Attack Bonus (thanks a lot, three levels of just lizardfolk that granted me a whopping +1 BAB!), so I'm lagging behind Utred and Khari. The D&D Mini I'm using to represent Jhasspok is a lizardfolk wielding a turtle shell shield and what looks like a primitive hammer; I didn't want to go the warhammer route and tread into Khari's territory and my last fighter PC wielded a morningstar so I didn't want to duplicate that, either - I figured battleaxe was a good solution. So I think I'll be taking 2 levels of fighter next, just for the bonus feats - I desperately need Weapon Focus (battleaxe) to start to be able to pull my weight a little better in combat.</p><p></p><p>Incidentally, I assume cleanup after a fight on a cavern ceiling is pretty easy: you just need to fling the corpses more than 10 feet into the air, at which point they're outside the range of the <em>reverse gravity</em> effect and they plunge half a mile into the bioluminescent sea. Look, it's raining corpses!</p><p></p><p>We're going to miss the next two normal Wednesday sessions; I have two upcoming business trips that will take me out of the state those weeks, so we'll resume the campaign on 4 March 2020.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7920071, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 10: RETURN TO THE OVERREACH[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Jhasspok, lizardfolk 3/barbarian 1[/INDENT] [INDENT] Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 4[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 12 February 2020 - - - [B]King Leopold[/B] sat upon his throne, examining the odd group being ushered before him. Two were dwarves, another a gnome; each of these three bearded folk wore metal armor that looked to have seen plenty of combat use but their weapons had been left outside the throne room - although the daughter of the mayor of Ducrest (a trusted ally) vouched that they had slain the goblin raiders who had attacked the town and returned the loot the green pests had absconded with, it never hurt to be too careful. There was a woman with the three, barely taller than the dwarves, wearing an elaborate robe and a silver circlet upon her brow. She strode directly up to the king and bowed low; she would likely be doing the speaking for the group. That served the king's interests, as she was certainly the most pleasant of the five to look upon. But the king's attention was currently focused on the fifth member, a hulking lizardfolk with thick, green scales who stood behind the others, looking around in wonder at the king's receiving chamber. Not only was King Leopold not accustomed to these lizard-people being somewhat civilized, as this one seemed to be, but he wore about his neck the symbol of Kravyrn, the king's own vampiric ancestor and valued ally of the kingdom that bore his name. As odd of a group as these five might be, they had obviously made a favorable impression upon the wily vampire. The king would certainly listen to what they had to say. The woman introduced herself as Marlo Pendragon and then named each member of her group before explaining why they had sought an audience with King Leopold. She mentioned the elves of Greenvale and explained their importance in overthrowing an Underdark City of drow responsible for the kidnapping and slavery of the five adventurers standing before the king. She had the king's courtiers bring in samples of gifts of silk they had brought from Greenvale and explained the elves' eagerness to form an alliance with the neighboring kingdoms to help bring down the drow of the Overreach responsible for an ongoing policy of slavery for the surface folks their raiders encountered. King Leopold raised his hand, silencing the short woman at once. "I have heard enough," he declared. "My advisers have cautioned against allying with Greenvale, arguing it would only serve to antagonize the Elderwood elves, but those elves have always seemed to me to be nothing more than arrogant bullies. In truth, I have sought a good reason to bypass their embargo of Greenvale and open relations with the city behind the mountain wall. If my ancestor Kravyrn has vouched for your plan, as I see he has, then I will be more than happy to have my kingdom join in your alliance." "Thank you, Your Majesty," replied Marlo with a smile. "I am most pleased by your decision." "In fact," added King Leopold, "I will begin the construction of a new road to Greenvale, bypassing altogether the Elderwood's blockade through their forest. With a safer passage, the other kingdoms should find it much easier to do business with Greenvale as well." This announcement brought smiles to the other heroes (four of them, at least; the lizardfolk snout didn't seem particularly well designed for smiling). King Leopold called for refreshments and the group toasted their new alliance with a fine red wine. After being escorted back out of the throne room and having their weapons returned to them, the group went back to the horse and wagon they had left outside. No sooner had they boarded the wagon than N'zorthal sent a telepathic message to the four of the slaves wearing the [I]ring gate necklaces[/I]. <Find a secluded alley where you will not be seen,> he commanded. <I will open the Writhing Gate - it is time for you to return to the Overreach.> "D'you think he heard any of that business with the king?" whispered Khari. "Not at all," answered Cramer. "Remember, the sunborn drow altered our tattoos and made it such that even the mind flayer's telepathic probings will get a false image of us doing something innocuous. We'll just play it cool and nobody will be any the wiser." "You know, we have an opportunity here to drive a wedge of sorts between Calish and N'zorthal," suggested Marlo. "We can mention to Calish that the mind flayer's taken that book - he seemed to want it awfully bad, and I'll bet he doesn't even plan to mention its existence to the slavemaster." But then the Writhing Gate sprang into existence before them and the time for any such discussions were over. <Leave the horse and wagon behind,> ordered N'zorthal. <They will not be needed.> Steeling themselves for the journey, the five Jalamir slaves stepped into the Writhing Gate. This time, knowing beforehand what was coming, they were able to close their minds against the nightmarish horrors waiting for them between the split seconds - although some of them wondered to themselves if Marlo hadn't instead opened her mind to the Dying One's mental embrace. She bore watching, that one! As one, the slaves found themselves back in the gate chamber. N'zorthal stood from his seat at the base of the Writhing Gate and immediately set some ground rules. <Calish and House Jalamir at large do not know about the true nature of the Writhing Gate,> he informed them. <It should remain that way, for all of your sakes. The drow are also not to know about the [I]Scriptures of Uboros[/I]. Any failure to heed my warnings will undoubtedly lead to the offender "accidentally" wearing a [U]fake[/U] [I]ring of regeneration[/I] during my next feeding session. Do I make myself absolutely clear?> "Yes," muttered Cramer and the other four followed suit. So much for that idea! <Return to me your [I]ring gate necklaces[/I] - they are no longer needed.> The four slaves hurriedly passed over the necklaces, glad to be rid of them. N'zorthal, too, seemed pleased to have them back, as it meant being able to retract his facial tentacles from them and appear whole once more. The trip back to the Overreach was uneventful and passed mostly in sullen and fearful silence. Upon returning to the drow city, Calish Jalamir was there to greet his five slaves. He seemed genuinely pleased to see them. "You have done an excellent job on your first surface raid!" he exclaimed. "The information we tortured out of the Elderwood prisoners was of extraordinary value to House Jalamir! Please accept these for your hard work and exceptional effort!" He handed each slave a silk bag, inside of which were 100 slave tokens. "By the way," he added, "a guard from House Ky'hulcressen is waiting for you. Apparently they wish to reward you for having saved Niradi, their apprentice weaver, some weeks ago. You have my leave to go with him." And the slavemaster shooed them away, then turned and went about whatever other business in the city required his attention. The Ky'hulcressen guard was a gaunt-faced warrior. He escorted the five Jalamir slaves to the markets around the Ky'hulcressen pillar - which was nearly as large as that of House Jalamir, the two Houses being close in their rankings. Looking about, it didn't take Cramer long to note an immediate difference between House Jalamir's slave-market and this one: "You use actual gold coins, not slave tokens!" the little gnome exclaimed. "Indeed we do," the guard, who had been stone-faced and silent during the journey to the market, replied. "Now that we are inside the magical protections of the marketplace, we are free to talk. Allow me to explain the full extent of your reward: you have each been extended 4,000 pieces of gold in credit for the work you have done on our behalf. In addition, you will each be given ironsilk armor upgrades, of the type best suited to your own preferences." "I wear no armor," Jhasspok pointed out. "True, we would need to custom-make an ironsilk suit of armor to fit your frame..." the guard began. "I wear no armor," Jhasspok repeated. "Nor clothing. I need only my leather harness, to hang my weapons and equipment on. Armor would hamper me when I swim and fish." "You don't fish any more," pointed out Khari. "No matter," answered the guard jovially. "If he doesn't wear armor, we'll see about getting him an enchanted weapon of some sort instead. But in the meantime, look about and see what you'd be interested in spending your reward upon. Once piece of advice, though: I recommend spending all of your actual gold first, and then dip into your lines of credit. If Calish finds out you still have actual coins from the surface, he'll be sure to take them from you. But he can't take away the credit our merchants will extend to you." "Thank you," exclaimed Marlo. "That's very generous of your House." "Remember, our House extends all the way to Greenvale," the guard replied with a wink. Khari and Utred accompanied Jhasspok to a weaponcrafter's shop, to help him pick out his enchanted weapon. While there, one of the weaponsmiths asked to see Utred's magic longsword. "May I study this?" he asked the dwarf. "I think I may be able to recreate this particular enchantment. I promise: I will return it to you before you must return to House Jalamir." Eager to reinforce their alliance with House Ky'hulcressen, Utred readily agreed. Then he and Khari helped the lizardfolk decide upon a weapon. In the end, Jhasspok chose a magical battleaxe, enchanted to guide the wielder into striking where the blade would do the most damage. The marketplace contained a few magic shops and the Jalamir slaves spent some of their coin there as well. Cramer and Khari each purchased a set of [I]gauntlets of ogre power[/I], which increased their overall strength; Jhasspok purchased something similar, but - not liking having his hands covered by gloves - he purchased a leather belt that did the same thing. Marlo bought an amulet to boost the power of her sorcerer spells, as she was the primary offensive caster among the group. Utred was intrigued by a necklace of red orbs, and when he learned each bead was a miniature [I]fireball[/I] spell ready to be thrown it became an instant purchase for him. And then, of course, four of the slaves were fitted out in their new ironsilk armor. Marlo, who had been wearing a set she'd taken from the corpse of a slain slave during the Festival of Blood, chose a new type of armor similar to a chain shirt, but woven of magically-hardened spider silk; it was as lightweight as a normal set of clothes and would not hamper her spellcasting in the least. Utred and Cramer went with ironsilk breastplate armor, while Khari - stubborn as ever - stuck with the ironsilk equivalent of the banded mail with which he was familiar. Finally, their purchases made, their new armor fitted out, and after Utred had retrieved his [I]Elderwood flame longsword[/I], the five Jalamir slaves returned to their own quarters. But then, recalling their new bags of slave-tokens, Cramer excused himself and went to the Jalamir slave-market, intent to try out the "Punch-a-Drow" shop now that he had a full 100 tokens on which to purchase the rental of a drow slave for a full hour. "Why does he want to spend an hour with a drow slave?" asked Jhasspok, puzzled. None of the others felt up to explaining. The next day, the slaves were awakened in their sleeping chambers - a large room partitioned off into individual stalls - by a booming, commanding female voice resonating through the House Jalamir pillar. Jhasspok recognized it immediately as the drow language, although he had no idea what the voice might be saying, not proficient in the language at all; the drow used the "slave language" exclusively when communicating to their slaves. But shortly thereafter Calish burst into the room, commanding the five to don their armor and grab their weapons: the House Jalamir pillar was under attack by one of the Lesser Houses! Calish led the group up to the top of the pillar and from there onto the ceiling of the mile-high cavern that made up the boundary of the city of Overreach. With the permanent [I]reverse gravity[/I] field along the ceiling, the slaves stood on the upper cavern as firmly as if they'd been standing upon solid ground. "You'll be in charge of guarding this entrance to the pillar," Calish explained, indicating the vast set of double doors from which they'd exited the enormous, stone column of House Jalamir. "The lesser slaves - those more easily expendable - have been sent to the front lines, at the edge of our territory upon the ceiling. They will keep the enemy at bay as best they can, fighting to the death. As will you all, but your task is to guard the North Gate, here. Feel free to advance upon the intruders as needed, but do not let them get past you and through the North Gate! Ensure no enemies make it into the House pillar!" Cramer got the distinct impression the drow "masters" would be particularly upset if they had to be bothered to lift a finger in their own defense. That, apparently, was what slaves were for! "Do we know who's attacking us?" asked Utred. "A Lesser House, hoping to elevate its ranks and possibly make it into the ranks of the Eight Ruling Noble Houses," Calish sneered. His slaves noted he didn't even bother dignifying the attacking House with their name. "There will be drow attacking us?" Cramer pressed. "And we're allowed to kill them?" The gnome well knew the prohibitions against attacking drow built into the slave tattoos they'd all been given, but he also knew the sunborn drow of Greenvale had altered the tattoos, removing that prohibition altogether. But Calish didn't know that and the little cleric wanted to give the slavemaster the impression he believed he was still bound by the tattoo's original constraints. "Any drow attacking House Jalamir is a fair target," Calish answered. "Now: you have your orders! Attend to your duties!" And with that, Calish Jalamir strode back inside the safety of the stone column of House Jalamir, leaving his slaves to guard the North Gate - with their very lives, if necessary. He pulled the double doors closed behind him with a resounding clang and the slaves could hear the sounds of the doors being barred from the inside. "Well, this blows!" complained Cramer, casting a [I]longstrider[/I] spell upon himself. "Figures they aren't going to put their own necks on the line - typical!" Marlo almost began to cast a [I]mage armor[/I] spell upon herself - it was, at this point, a force of habit when preparing for imminent combat - but then realized her new ironsilk armor made the spell unnecessary. Then she looked over at Jhasspok, the only member of the group not wearing armor (he held his turtle shell shield, but that was it) and cast the spell on him instead. "What is this?" Jhasspok asked, looking at his arm. "[I]Mage armor[/I] spell. It'll help protect you in combat." "I'm...all shiny." It wasn't perhaps the best description, but occasionally the lizardfolk could see a glimpse of the edge of the invisible barrier surrounding him like a suit of armor as he moved his arm around, trying to catch the light in the right way. "Focus, Jhasspok," Marlo suggested. The lizardfolk stopped marveling at his invisible force armor and looked across the area of the cavern ceiling before him. If you forget you were upside-down, with a bioluminescent Underdark sea a half mile above your head, the area looked like any normal area around a city's gates, with a few small buildings and tents nearby and a wooden stage upon which could be paraded new slaves for purchase. There were shouts and the sounds of battle some distance away, but the combatants were obscured behind obstructing buildings. Suddenly, there was movement to the northwest, as a quartet of gnomish figures scurried around a corner and took cover. Jhasspok recognized them at once as svirfneblin, the Underdark gnomes who spent their whole lives underground - and occasionally ran afoul of the drow, often becoming slaves. This was likely the case here, with the four svirfneblin working for the unnamed Lesser House of the Overreach. Jhasspok raced forward, leaping over the slave stage platform and into an open clearing, readying his new battleaxe. The deep gnomes were hidden behind a long, low building, but from the lizardfolk's position he'd be able to see from which way they approached and attack them as they advanced. Marlo spotted one and sent a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell striking at the svirfneblin's head. Unfortunately, he ducked back behind the building in time and the flame spell missed its target. From beside her, Khari advanced, his dwarven warhammer ready to strike at the first svirfneblin to approach him. Cramer stepped forward as well, casting a [I]magic weapon[/I] spell upon his mace as he did so. Utred, however, stayed in position before the North Gate, not trusting that some wizard wouldn't [I]teleport[/I] in and try to get through the entrance to the House Jalamir column. He had his [I]Elderwood flame longsword[/I] out, ready for action. As one, the four svirfneblin went on the offensive. One rushed to the safety of the shadows behind a merchant tent, while the other three pulled out shortbows and fired arrows at Khari Hammerslammer. None of the arrows hit; perhaps the archers had been intimidated by the dwarven fighter's fierce glare. Jhasspok charged the first svirfneblin, bringing his new battleaxe slamming down in an overhand swing he'd hoped would cut the deep gnome in two. But he was unaccustomed to the weapon's weight and balance and the blow fell short, the blade chopping a deep gash into the stone ceiling at the svirfneblin's feet. Marlo cast a [I]magic missile[/I] at the foe the lizardfolk had just missed, her spell striking true - which was normal for that particular spell - but the sorceress had noted a field of energy around the svirfneblin and she realized they likely had an inherent resistance to spell energy, as was unfortunately true of so many races that lived in the Underdark. Idly, she wondered why that was so, but then decided this wasn't the time to let her mind wander from the task at hand. With a wordless growl, Khari charged forward at the closest of the three archers, his warhammer striking the svirfneblin in the side of the head and crushing his skull instantly. Just that quickly, the Hammerslammer dwarf had struck first blood. Utred, seeing the forces before them didn't appear to have any spellcasters among them, hesitantly stepped forward - he'd make sure he only went far enough away from the North Gate that he'd still be able to return in an instant if it became necessary. Cramer, in the meantime, cast a [I]protection from evil[/I] spell on himself; he knew his deep gnome brethren were likely not of an evil bent, merely slaves like himself, but there was good chance their drow masters would make an appearance at some point during this fight, especially if they hoped to breach House Jalamir and face the drow waiting for them within. Two of the svirfneblin broke ranks and attacked Utred from opposite sides, hoping to flank him and take him out while he tried to defend himself from two directions at once. The concentrated attack was somewhat successful, in that one of the gnomes managed to get past the dwarven barbarian's defenses and stab him with his short sword, but if they had hoped this would take out mighty Utred they had vastly underestimated his stamina! The remaining archer shot at Cramer, missing once again. Jhasspok continued his attack upon the svirfneblin he'd missed with his axe, and missed two more times - the little guy was certainly nimble! Marlo cast another [I]magic missile[/I] spell at him, once more hitting true but this time having her spell fizzle out upon contact - that blasted spell resistance! But then Khari approached and swung his weapon; the svirfneblin didn't have any sort of inherent dwarven warhammer resistance, that was for sure! He crumpled to the ground, dead. But Khari wasn't finished with his attack just yet! Swinging his warhammer around in a continuing arc, he brought it crashing down upon one of the deep gnomes flanking Utred, who at this point was focused upon the other svirfneblin and had uncharacteristically missed with his longsword strike. Cramer stepped up behind the svirfneblin fighting Khari and sent his mace crashing into the back of his foe's head, knocking him to the ground. It looked as if his chest was rising and falling with labored, ragged breathing, but it also looked as if he wouldn't be doing it for too much longer. Jhasspok, at this point frustrated with his inability to hit anyone with his new, enchanted battleaxe, decided to test whether or not the dumb thing even worked at all by attacking the unconscious svirfneblin. As his head went rolling across the ground, the lizardfolk nodded in approval and decided his axe worked just fine after all. The remaining svirfneblin stabbed again at Utred and missed, but was then himself struck by a [I]magic missile[/I] from Marlo. Utred finished him off with his own blade and then the group took a moment to look around to see if there were any other reinforcements heading this way. There were: an armored, female drow rounded the corner from where the svirfneblin had come. Cramer, seeing her approach, ran up but kept his distance; he readied a [I]sound burst[/I] spell since he could see what looked to be a duergar fast approaching as well - no sense in wasting the spell on one foe when he could unleash it on two! Once the two were close enough together the cleric released the spell, causing the pair to become momentarily stunned. Jhasspok took full advantage of the temporary opportunity, dashing forward to attack the duergar fighter in the heavy armor. Khari and Utred stepped up to focus their attacks upon the same target; the poor duergar was unable to fend off the trio of weapons in his currently stunned state. Marlo then added insult to injury by targeting him with a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell, hoping to take him down quickly. Cramer came to the same conclusion and cast a [I]spiritual weapon[/I] spell which caused a quarterstaff of pure force to swing down at the hapless gray dwarf. While the drow and duergar were still fighting off the effects of Cramer's [I]sound burst[/I] spell, Marlo stepped forward and cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell at the drow woman. Khari swung his warhammer at her as well, judging the duergar to be about to fall - especially with Utred swinging his green-flamed blade into the grey dwarf's side. The drow duskblade, snapping out of it at the last moment, swung her own blade at the lizardfolk's side, getting past his shield and through his [I]mage armor[/I] to draw blood. Jhasspok hissed in pain and returned the attack with his battleaxe - a weapon for which he was quickly getting the hang of wielding. Cramer's [I]spiritual weapon[/I] spell finished off the duergar - a first for the cleric's use of that particular spell! - and then the gnome heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He dropped a pebble into his sling and started swinging it about his head, building up speed. The drow duskblade fell to another of Marlo's [I]magic missile[/I] spells. As one, the five slaves turned toward the sounds of approaching reinforcements. Three male drow warriors rounded the corner and came into view, closing the distance - only to be attacked en masse by Khari's warhammer, Utred's longsword, and Jhasspok's battleaxe. Behind the drow males, though, stepped up a female - a cleric of Lolth, by the looks of her garb. Ignoring his sling for the moment, Cramer pointed at the approaching foes with a finger of his other hand and cast another [I]sound burst[/I] spell centered such to get the drow - but nobody else - in its area of effect. All four drow flinched at the sudden audio blast and all were temporarily stunned save for one of the drow males. Again taking advantage of temporarily motionless enemies, Jhasspok swung his battleaxe at one of the male drow while Marlo used her last [I]scorching ray[/I] spell on the drow priestess. But then the dwarves finished the battle in a mere handful of seconds, Khari crushing a warrior's head in and then smashing the priestess in the face with his warhammer, all in one deadly arc of motion, while Utred's [I]Elderwood flame longsword[/I] sliced through the abdomens of the other two male warriors in one cleaving blow. All four fell to the ground at virtually the same time. Looking about for the next wave of enemies, the group could hear the fighting still in the distance but nothing coming their way. Cramer put the dwarves on lookout duty while the others quickly looted their slain foes. A quick [I]detect magic[/I] spell from Marlo helped identify which items were worthy of closer scrutiny: two pairs of [I]boots of striding and springing[/I] (which were eventually given to Utred and Khari) and a pair of masterwork hand crossbows, which Jhasspok and Utred took for their own use. Jhasspok was particularly intrigued by a weapon you actually wore on your arm like a piece of armor - strange! He'd have to practice with it - and, he realized, with his new battleaxe - until he had mastered the new forms of attack they provided. Eventually, the sounds of battle drifted off, the attackers either driven off, slain, or the skirmishes simply moving farther away and out of earshot. Despite their willingness to enter into additional combat, neither of the five slaves dared disobey their orders, so they stayed by the North Gate, determined that no foes would enter the House Jalamir pillar through this particular entrance. And none did; after about an hour of inactivity, the gates suddenly opened from the inside and a House Jalamir slave informed the group the battle was over. Shrugging, the group entered the stone pillar and returned to their quarters to clean up and deal with their wounds. - - - Well, Jhasspok's got a lot of training ahead of him with that stupid [I]+1 battleaxe[/I] he got - my first three attack rolls were a 1, a 3, and a 2! But the hand crossbow is pretty cool - it helps that Logan, Harry, and I are all watching the "Crossbow" series (a 1980s TV show about the fictional exploits of William Tell) and a recent episode had William using a hand crossbow. Logan's dropping the "exotic" nature of the weapon, making it just another form of common ranged attack. But the whole reason Jhasspok has a battleaxe in the first place is I decided I'm going to have to pick one weapon and make that his primary attack. I'm running a 4th-level combat specialist PC with only a +2 Base Attack Bonus (thanks a lot, three levels of just lizardfolk that granted me a whopping +1 BAB!), so I'm lagging behind Utred and Khari. The D&D Mini I'm using to represent Jhasspok is a lizardfolk wielding a turtle shell shield and what looks like a primitive hammer; I didn't want to go the warhammer route and tread into Khari's territory and my last fighter PC wielded a morningstar so I didn't want to duplicate that, either - I figured battleaxe was a good solution. So I think I'll be taking 2 levels of fighter next, just for the bonus feats - I desperately need Weapon Focus (battleaxe) to start to be able to pull my weight a little better in combat. Incidentally, I assume cleanup after a fight on a cavern ceiling is pretty easy: you just need to fling the corpses more than 10 feet into the air, at which point they're outside the range of the [I]reverse gravity[/I] effect and they plunge half a mile into the bioluminescent sea. Look, it's raining corpses! We're going to miss the next two normal Wednesday sessions; I have two upcoming business trips that will take me out of the state those weeks, so we'll resume the campaign on 4 March 2020. [/QUOTE]
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