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Rel's Faded Glory Campaign (Thank You Old One!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 923" data-attributes="member: 99"><p><strong>On to the Stone Tooth</strong></p><p></p><p>That night, as the party camped, Speaks wandered a short distance into the nearby forest and followed the hooting of an owl. When he located the creature, he cast his spell of animal friendship and this time was successful. With the owl riding his shoulder, he strode back into camp. He now had two faithful animal friends, both of whom regarded Rhys' new familiar, Tavis, as a potential snack.</p><p></p><p>As the dim light rose on their camp, a light snow began to fall. They looked at each other somberly, knowing that it wouldn't be long before the snows would reach as far south as the Coritani lands and that would likely mark the start of the orcish offensive. They pressed on towards the Stone Tooth.</p><p></p><p>In late afternoon, they were starting to seek a safe camp for the night and were passing between a pair of rocky ridges. Ilrath suddenly stopped and said, "Do you hear that?"</p><p></p><p>Without further warning the snow at the base of the leftmost ridge burst open and a large white centipede burst forth, spines on its back glowing a dull red. (Note: I know, I know. You're thinking "Holy crap! He threw a Remmorhaz at those poor 2nd-3rd level characters! He instantly qualifies as a Rat Bastard DM ™. Remain calm. It was a juvenile that I toned down for this party. Still, it could easily have killed the lot of them had things gone poorly.)</p><p></p><p>Without thought for his own safety, Ilrath let out a battle cry and charged the beast and scored a devastating blow with his great axe (crit for 39 points of damage). In return, the creature gave Ilrath a vicious bite that nearly staggered him. Krase charged in but failed to damage the creature on his first attempt. Rhys hit it with a crossbow bolt while Speaks summoned a badger to attack it from behind.</p><p></p><p>The great bug launched a terrible bite at Krase who suffered a nasty wound. The next round of attacks nicked away at the beast, but it was the vicious bite of the badger that sent it into oblivion. The creature toppled over with a hissing sound as its red hot spines melted the snow on the ground.</p><p></p><p>After a few moments to recover, the party explored the cave the beast had shot out from. Inside they found little of value save a somewhat damaged set of banded mail. But the cave did provide excellent shelter for the party. They decided to stay in the cave for the night and throughout the following day. The extra time gave them a chance to rest and heal. It also meant that Speaks had a chance to brew a couple healing potions which he gave to Rhys and Krase (Note: In my campaign, you can scribe a number of scrolls or brew a number of potions up to a maximum of your spellcasting stat bonus as long as the items stay under the 1,000gp cap.). This also gave Rhys time to use the Identify aspect of the magic candle to ID his new wand and the amulet they found on the shaman.</p><p></p><p>(The wand turned out to cast the <em>Burning Hands</em> spell at caster level 2 and had 38 charges left. The amulet allowed someone to send a message up to 20 words to anyone else with a similar amulet who was within 1 mile per character level, one time per day.)</p><p></p><p>When Rhys announced the function of the amulet, Krase rather bashfully admitted that he had another similar amulet in his pack. This drew a derisive glare from Rhys who pointed out that it would have been helpful if he could have identified it along with the other items. Some quick experimentation proved that among any other abilities, Krase's amulet also had the ability to send a receive a message once per day.</p><p></p><p>The party spent the next night in the cave and at dawn, headed once more towards the Stone Tooth. Speaks with Stone provided all the humans in the party with spells to help them resist the cold and it made travel much easier and more pleasant.</p><p></p><p>No more orc patrols were spotted that day and by dusk they arrived at the base of the mountain. They decided that it would be wiser not to climb the mountain at night and made camp under a rock overhang.</p><p></p><p>(NOTE: FROM HERE ON OUT, I STARTED A HEAVILY MODIFIED VERSION OF THE FORGE OF FURY. IF YOU DON'T WANT THAT MODULE SPOILED FOR YOU, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER. I WILL POST ANOTHER MESSAGE WHEN THE PARTY HAS LEFT THE FORGE SO THAT YOU CAN RESUME READING, BUT THAT IS WHERE THEY WILL BE ADVENTURING FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT SEVERAL SESSIONS. YOU WERE WARNED.)</p><p></p><p>After another uneventful night, the party quickly found a path up the steep mountain. Throughout the early part of the day, the party climbed the path that wound up the mountain, periodically exposed to the wind and snow that blew in from the north and sometimes in the lee of the mountain. Always they had the steep side of the mountain on one side and a steep drop off on the other as they made their way along the ledge.</p><p></p><p>In early afternoon, they rounded the mountainside into the wind and snow again. A few steps later, Rhys spotted a pair of figures who appeared to be standing guard on a ledge up ahead. A moment later, he realized that these were not the squat and sturdy forms of dwarves, but in fact the tall and muscular shapes of orcs. Further, in the whiteness of the snowfall, the brightly colored feathers they wore stood out clearly.</p><p></p><p>Rhys quickly grabbed the others before they were spotted and they retreated back into the lee of the mountain. He told them about the orcs and they decided to retreat even further down the path to discuss what they should do.</p><p></p><p>It was quickly decided that more information was necessary to plan their next move and Tavis was dispatched to get the lay of the land. She moved along the edge of the path and determined that near where the orcs stood guard, it ended at a crevasse that ran into the mountain. Following this she found that the crevasse led to a large room with a pair of doors leading to the interior of the mountain. One of the doors was open somewhat and she crept inside.</p><p></p><p>Beyond the doors she found herself on a wide ledge that ended in a deep pit. A rope bridge stretched off into the darkness and she could see no further than that. Rhys recalled her and on the return trip, she noticed a series of holes that looked down into the crevasse that could be used for observation. She crawled up the outward side of the crevasse and along the mountainside back to Rhys.</p><p></p><p>After a brief discussion, there was no question that some kind of attack needed to be initiated on the mountain entrance. The dwarves they were sent to contact could be trapped in the lower levels and freeing them or causing enough of a distraction to allow them to free themselves would not only be the right thing to do, it would virtually assure their cooperation against the orcs in the future. In addition, if the orcs felt that their hold on the Stone Tooth were slipping, they might send more troops to reinforce the mountain and that would be that many fewer orcs attacking the barbarian lands and the forces of Glynden.</p><p></p><p>The first assessment the group made was that they wanted to be freshly rested before making an assault on these orcs. They withdrew some distance back down the mountain until they found a wide spot on the ledge along the leeward side of the Stone Tooth. They put up their tarp and huddled inside from the dampness of the snow (They weren't cold thanks to Speaks with Stones Endure Elements spells). The decided to spend the night there and attack in the morning when the spellcasters had a fresh compliment of spells.</p><p></p><p>Throughout the afternoon, they debated the best way to gain entrance to the complex that would put the party in the most advantageous position and make the best use of their spells. Fortunately for them, no patrols left from or returned to the mountain that afternoon or night. In the morning, Speaks with Stone communed with nature to gather the carefully selected spells the group had planned for.</p><p></p><p><strong>NEXT: Assault on the Mountain Door</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 923, member: 99"] [B]On to the Stone Tooth[/B] That night, as the party camped, Speaks wandered a short distance into the nearby forest and followed the hooting of an owl. When he located the creature, he cast his spell of animal friendship and this time was successful. With the owl riding his shoulder, he strode back into camp. He now had two faithful animal friends, both of whom regarded Rhys' new familiar, Tavis, as a potential snack. As the dim light rose on their camp, a light snow began to fall. They looked at each other somberly, knowing that it wouldn't be long before the snows would reach as far south as the Coritani lands and that would likely mark the start of the orcish offensive. They pressed on towards the Stone Tooth. In late afternoon, they were starting to seek a safe camp for the night and were passing between a pair of rocky ridges. Ilrath suddenly stopped and said, "Do you hear that?" Without further warning the snow at the base of the leftmost ridge burst open and a large white centipede burst forth, spines on its back glowing a dull red. (Note: I know, I know. You're thinking "Holy crap! He threw a Remmorhaz at those poor 2nd-3rd level characters! He instantly qualifies as a Rat Bastard DM ™. Remain calm. It was a juvenile that I toned down for this party. Still, it could easily have killed the lot of them had things gone poorly.) Without thought for his own safety, Ilrath let out a battle cry and charged the beast and scored a devastating blow with his great axe (crit for 39 points of damage). In return, the creature gave Ilrath a vicious bite that nearly staggered him. Krase charged in but failed to damage the creature on his first attempt. Rhys hit it with a crossbow bolt while Speaks summoned a badger to attack it from behind. The great bug launched a terrible bite at Krase who suffered a nasty wound. The next round of attacks nicked away at the beast, but it was the vicious bite of the badger that sent it into oblivion. The creature toppled over with a hissing sound as its red hot spines melted the snow on the ground. After a few moments to recover, the party explored the cave the beast had shot out from. Inside they found little of value save a somewhat damaged set of banded mail. But the cave did provide excellent shelter for the party. They decided to stay in the cave for the night and throughout the following day. The extra time gave them a chance to rest and heal. It also meant that Speaks had a chance to brew a couple healing potions which he gave to Rhys and Krase (Note: In my campaign, you can scribe a number of scrolls or brew a number of potions up to a maximum of your spellcasting stat bonus as long as the items stay under the 1,000gp cap.). This also gave Rhys time to use the Identify aspect of the magic candle to ID his new wand and the amulet they found on the shaman. (The wand turned out to cast the [I]Burning Hands[/I] spell at caster level 2 and had 38 charges left. The amulet allowed someone to send a message up to 20 words to anyone else with a similar amulet who was within 1 mile per character level, one time per day.) When Rhys announced the function of the amulet, Krase rather bashfully admitted that he had another similar amulet in his pack. This drew a derisive glare from Rhys who pointed out that it would have been helpful if he could have identified it along with the other items. Some quick experimentation proved that among any other abilities, Krase's amulet also had the ability to send a receive a message once per day. The party spent the next night in the cave and at dawn, headed once more towards the Stone Tooth. Speaks with Stone provided all the humans in the party with spells to help them resist the cold and it made travel much easier and more pleasant. No more orc patrols were spotted that day and by dusk they arrived at the base of the mountain. They decided that it would be wiser not to climb the mountain at night and made camp under a rock overhang. (NOTE: FROM HERE ON OUT, I STARTED A HEAVILY MODIFIED VERSION OF THE FORGE OF FURY. IF YOU DON'T WANT THAT MODULE SPOILED FOR YOU, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER. I WILL POST ANOTHER MESSAGE WHEN THE PARTY HAS LEFT THE FORGE SO THAT YOU CAN RESUME READING, BUT THAT IS WHERE THEY WILL BE ADVENTURING FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT SEVERAL SESSIONS. YOU WERE WARNED.) After another uneventful night, the party quickly found a path up the steep mountain. Throughout the early part of the day, the party climbed the path that wound up the mountain, periodically exposed to the wind and snow that blew in from the north and sometimes in the lee of the mountain. Always they had the steep side of the mountain on one side and a steep drop off on the other as they made their way along the ledge. In early afternoon, they rounded the mountainside into the wind and snow again. A few steps later, Rhys spotted a pair of figures who appeared to be standing guard on a ledge up ahead. A moment later, he realized that these were not the squat and sturdy forms of dwarves, but in fact the tall and muscular shapes of orcs. Further, in the whiteness of the snowfall, the brightly colored feathers they wore stood out clearly. Rhys quickly grabbed the others before they were spotted and they retreated back into the lee of the mountain. He told them about the orcs and they decided to retreat even further down the path to discuss what they should do. It was quickly decided that more information was necessary to plan their next move and Tavis was dispatched to get the lay of the land. She moved along the edge of the path and determined that near where the orcs stood guard, it ended at a crevasse that ran into the mountain. Following this she found that the crevasse led to a large room with a pair of doors leading to the interior of the mountain. One of the doors was open somewhat and she crept inside. Beyond the doors she found herself on a wide ledge that ended in a deep pit. A rope bridge stretched off into the darkness and she could see no further than that. Rhys recalled her and on the return trip, she noticed a series of holes that looked down into the crevasse that could be used for observation. She crawled up the outward side of the crevasse and along the mountainside back to Rhys. After a brief discussion, there was no question that some kind of attack needed to be initiated on the mountain entrance. The dwarves they were sent to contact could be trapped in the lower levels and freeing them or causing enough of a distraction to allow them to free themselves would not only be the right thing to do, it would virtually assure their cooperation against the orcs in the future. In addition, if the orcs felt that their hold on the Stone Tooth were slipping, they might send more troops to reinforce the mountain and that would be that many fewer orcs attacking the barbarian lands and the forces of Glynden. The first assessment the group made was that they wanted to be freshly rested before making an assault on these orcs. They withdrew some distance back down the mountain until they found a wide spot on the ledge along the leeward side of the Stone Tooth. They put up their tarp and huddled inside from the dampness of the snow (They weren't cold thanks to Speaks with Stones Endure Elements spells). The decided to spend the night there and attack in the morning when the spellcasters had a fresh compliment of spells. Throughout the afternoon, they debated the best way to gain entrance to the complex that would put the party in the most advantageous position and make the best use of their spells. Fortunately for them, no patrols left from or returned to the mountain that afternoon or night. In the morning, Speaks with Stone communed with nature to gather the carefully selected spells the group had planned for. [B]NEXT: Assault on the Mountain Door[/B] [/QUOTE]
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