Rel's Faded Glory II (Thanks Old One) Final Update 7/14
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Darklone said:Take your time, a weekend alone is often spent better than writing story hours, WAIT, what did I say?
I appreciate the latitude, Darklone. And never fear, I have plenty of hedonistic plans. I'm doing a testosterone movie fest tonight and Sunday I'm doing some LAN play with Raven's player.
But I really do want to get some of the recent events put into the story hour. I'm anxious to share what's been going on. And like the Elton John song says:
Saturday Night's Alright For Writin'
Raven_Khazundam
First Post
Sheild Other
In Theory....it sounds like a great spell to plop down on a death dealing fighter.....In Theory. Theory, however is not reality and it really was the Ogres that blew the plan out of the water. What where they thinkin?? Attacking the Dwarf(ME!) and the Druid over the viscious Half-Orc (Scar). You'd think we had a RBDM....oh wait...we do....
As to our future....it just keeps getting better and better. You should look forward to our trap finding strategies, in fact I think I should write a book about it,
"Ravens Traps for Dummies: The TO DO list for the Rogue impaired"
It'd be quality reading, really.
Raven
Lawful Good Cleric of Moradin
In Theory....it sounds like a great spell to plop down on a death dealing fighter.....In Theory. Theory, however is not reality and it really was the Ogres that blew the plan out of the water. What where they thinkin?? Attacking the Dwarf(ME!) and the Druid over the viscious Half-Orc (Scar). You'd think we had a RBDM....oh wait...we do....
As to our future....it just keeps getting better and better. You should look forward to our trap finding strategies, in fact I think I should write a book about it,
"Ravens Traps for Dummies: The TO DO list for the Rogue impaired"
It'd be quality reading, really.
Raven
Lawful Good Cleric of Moradin
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Alright! Got another update finished despite the temptations of my "Home Alone" weekend. I'm going to try to write at least one more section tonight before the lure of computer games grows too strong and hopefully another installment tomorrow night as well.
Thanks for your patience as always. I hope you enjoy...
A Taste of Their Own Medicine
Two days later, the party found themselves on the banks of a large, slow moving river. The water seemed exceptionally dark and along the shores, conditions were positively bog-like. They settled in for the night and arose at dawn to continue. Raven provided magic that allowed all of them to Walk on Water and they crossed the river without event.
Across the river, they soon found that the forest took on a more sinister cast. The trees were gnarled and dark. Animals were seen more seldom and a hint of dread seemed to hang on the wind. The party moved cautiously ahead, certain that danger awaited them.
Two nights after crossing the Darkflow, Scar stood a lonely watch over their cold camp. He thought he detected some noise off in the woods. He paid more careful and became certain that he heard something. He stooped and awakened Speaks. As he moved to do the same for Raven, he heard another noise, this time from the opposite direction.
Speaks quickly gathered up his spear and pulled forth his Everburning Torch. A moment later, a skeleton, once a Gnoll by the look of it, lurched into the light. Two more quickly followed it. Scar moved quickly to intercept the skeleton in the lead while Raven gathered up his weapon and prepared to join the fray.
Before the Dwarf could join his companions however, he spotted several walking Gnoll corpses moving jerkily toward them from the opposite direction. Raven called out a warning to his companions and began to call on the power of Moradin to sanctify the ground on which they fought.
Scar meanwhile shattered the first of the skeletons he engaged while Speaks found his spear to be fairly ineffective against these undead. His companion Scrubs had little luck with his claws either.
The zombies closed quickly on Raven and a second trio of skeletons joined the battle behind the first. Raven called out to Moradin to smite these abominations with his heavenly hammer. A thundering roar sounded and all the zombies and the two closest skeletons exploded into dust. (Raven has a bad Charisma and is sub-par at turning undead, but he rolled quite well on top of the Consecration he had just performed.)
Scar downed another of the skeletons while Speaks and Scrubs handled the others. Just as it seemed that the battle was well in hand, a strange voice was heard in the same directions that the skeletons had come from and suddenly the tree branches and roots reached out to seize the party. All three of them became Entangled even as they smashed the last of the undead.
Raven was the first to struggle free and escape the grasp of the trees and bushes. Speaks managed to ignore the flailing branches long enough to conjure a Flaming Sphere in the direction the voice came from. There, among the trees, was a cloaked figure finishing another magical gesture. As the ball of fire rolled toward it, the figure fled, but not before being singed by Speaks’ flames.
Raven also spotted the figure and pursued with vigor. As he did so, he cried out in pain. Looking down, he saw that the nearby plants had grown wicked spines that had pierced his legs. He gritted his teeth and bulled his way forward after the fleeing figure.
Charging onto the scene came Scrubs the bear who slammed into the hooded villain, rending him with his claws. Speaks rendered further assistance by Summoning a badger to assist. Scar freed himself from the entangled area and rapidly closed the distance to their assailant and prepared to smite him viciously.
Just as he seemed within their grasp, the figure transformed into a large bird and took flight, leaving his attackers on the ground below. None had any missile weapons at the ready and could only watch as the mysterious foe disappeared into the night. Speaks freed himself a few moments later and took to the air in bird form as well. But by then, the enemy had effected his escape.
Speaks returned to the ground and conferred with his companions. He related that their attacker must be one of the mysterious Dark Druids based on his capabilities. Raven and Scar had already surmised as much. Their chief concern was whether Speaks could counter any of their druidic abilities. Speaks promised to give it serious thought. For the moment, he recommended that they move their camp. The others agreed and they quickly gathered their things and moved a couple of miles further west.
They settled in to try and get what rest they could at the new location. But their respite was short lived.
The plants around them came to life once more, reaching out with gnarled roots and limbs to entrap them. Worse yet, this time sharp briars adorning the plants threatened to rend them should they struggle against their grip.
Raven and Speaks found themselves held by the Web of Briars but Scar had scrambled clear before becoming entrapped. Already suffering wounds from the earlier encounter, Raven and Speaks could do little to aid the Half-Orc.
No sooner had he won his way clear of the patch of thorns than Scar was beset by another pair of skeletons. This time, they took the form of large wolves. They moved swiftly to engage him.
Scar quickly found that his hammer shattered their bones in a most satisfactory manner. But his troubles were not over yet. Still plagued by the skeletal dire wolves, a pair of arrows flew out of the darkness and struck Scar with horrible accuracy.
Scar marked the direction they came from and gave ground to the wolves in order to put the Briar Web between himself and the sniper. The wolves closed again and one dealt him a vicious bite that bruised him beneath the chain shirt he wore. He struck with his hammer again and one of the wolves crumbled to the ground.
Noting that the archer had not materialized again, Scar stood his ground this time. He barely evaded the bite of the skeleton but followed with a pair of mighty, two-handed swings of his hammer that left the wolf a pile of broken bone. Scar wasted no time gloating but turned and ran the opposite direction. Keeping the thicket of spiny woods between him and the last known location of the archer, he circled and then slowed his gait to a crawl.
He furtively approached the cluster of trees where he suspected the archer lurked. He drew within twenty paces, then a dozen, then five. Finally he stood where he thought the archer may have hid but found no one. He crouched low and made another, wider circuit of the camp. But his search was fruitless. The Dark Druids appeared to be masters of hit and run tactics.
Figuring that they would get little additional sleep that night anyway, the party gathered their gear to head out. They reasoned that the Dark Druids may have divined their destination and were setting up ambushes all along the trail between the temple and their present location. They decided to stray from this path in the hopes of eluding further attack. Rubbing their eyes from fatigue, they set out to the northwest, into the darkness.
NEXT: The Temple
Thanks for your patience as always. I hope you enjoy...
A Taste of Their Own Medicine
Two days later, the party found themselves on the banks of a large, slow moving river. The water seemed exceptionally dark and along the shores, conditions were positively bog-like. They settled in for the night and arose at dawn to continue. Raven provided magic that allowed all of them to Walk on Water and they crossed the river without event.
Across the river, they soon found that the forest took on a more sinister cast. The trees were gnarled and dark. Animals were seen more seldom and a hint of dread seemed to hang on the wind. The party moved cautiously ahead, certain that danger awaited them.
Two nights after crossing the Darkflow, Scar stood a lonely watch over their cold camp. He thought he detected some noise off in the woods. He paid more careful and became certain that he heard something. He stooped and awakened Speaks. As he moved to do the same for Raven, he heard another noise, this time from the opposite direction.
Speaks quickly gathered up his spear and pulled forth his Everburning Torch. A moment later, a skeleton, once a Gnoll by the look of it, lurched into the light. Two more quickly followed it. Scar moved quickly to intercept the skeleton in the lead while Raven gathered up his weapon and prepared to join the fray.
Before the Dwarf could join his companions however, he spotted several walking Gnoll corpses moving jerkily toward them from the opposite direction. Raven called out a warning to his companions and began to call on the power of Moradin to sanctify the ground on which they fought.
Scar meanwhile shattered the first of the skeletons he engaged while Speaks found his spear to be fairly ineffective against these undead. His companion Scrubs had little luck with his claws either.
The zombies closed quickly on Raven and a second trio of skeletons joined the battle behind the first. Raven called out to Moradin to smite these abominations with his heavenly hammer. A thundering roar sounded and all the zombies and the two closest skeletons exploded into dust. (Raven has a bad Charisma and is sub-par at turning undead, but he rolled quite well on top of the Consecration he had just performed.)
Scar downed another of the skeletons while Speaks and Scrubs handled the others. Just as it seemed that the battle was well in hand, a strange voice was heard in the same directions that the skeletons had come from and suddenly the tree branches and roots reached out to seize the party. All three of them became Entangled even as they smashed the last of the undead.
Raven was the first to struggle free and escape the grasp of the trees and bushes. Speaks managed to ignore the flailing branches long enough to conjure a Flaming Sphere in the direction the voice came from. There, among the trees, was a cloaked figure finishing another magical gesture. As the ball of fire rolled toward it, the figure fled, but not before being singed by Speaks’ flames.
Raven also spotted the figure and pursued with vigor. As he did so, he cried out in pain. Looking down, he saw that the nearby plants had grown wicked spines that had pierced his legs. He gritted his teeth and bulled his way forward after the fleeing figure.
Charging onto the scene came Scrubs the bear who slammed into the hooded villain, rending him with his claws. Speaks rendered further assistance by Summoning a badger to assist. Scar freed himself from the entangled area and rapidly closed the distance to their assailant and prepared to smite him viciously.
Just as he seemed within their grasp, the figure transformed into a large bird and took flight, leaving his attackers on the ground below. None had any missile weapons at the ready and could only watch as the mysterious foe disappeared into the night. Speaks freed himself a few moments later and took to the air in bird form as well. But by then, the enemy had effected his escape.
Speaks returned to the ground and conferred with his companions. He related that their attacker must be one of the mysterious Dark Druids based on his capabilities. Raven and Scar had already surmised as much. Their chief concern was whether Speaks could counter any of their druidic abilities. Speaks promised to give it serious thought. For the moment, he recommended that they move their camp. The others agreed and they quickly gathered their things and moved a couple of miles further west.
They settled in to try and get what rest they could at the new location. But their respite was short lived.
The plants around them came to life once more, reaching out with gnarled roots and limbs to entrap them. Worse yet, this time sharp briars adorning the plants threatened to rend them should they struggle against their grip.
Raven and Speaks found themselves held by the Web of Briars but Scar had scrambled clear before becoming entrapped. Already suffering wounds from the earlier encounter, Raven and Speaks could do little to aid the Half-Orc.
No sooner had he won his way clear of the patch of thorns than Scar was beset by another pair of skeletons. This time, they took the form of large wolves. They moved swiftly to engage him.
Scar quickly found that his hammer shattered their bones in a most satisfactory manner. But his troubles were not over yet. Still plagued by the skeletal dire wolves, a pair of arrows flew out of the darkness and struck Scar with horrible accuracy.
Scar marked the direction they came from and gave ground to the wolves in order to put the Briar Web between himself and the sniper. The wolves closed again and one dealt him a vicious bite that bruised him beneath the chain shirt he wore. He struck with his hammer again and one of the wolves crumbled to the ground.
Noting that the archer had not materialized again, Scar stood his ground this time. He barely evaded the bite of the skeleton but followed with a pair of mighty, two-handed swings of his hammer that left the wolf a pile of broken bone. Scar wasted no time gloating but turned and ran the opposite direction. Keeping the thicket of spiny woods between him and the last known location of the archer, he circled and then slowed his gait to a crawl.
He furtively approached the cluster of trees where he suspected the archer lurked. He drew within twenty paces, then a dozen, then five. Finally he stood where he thought the archer may have hid but found no one. He crouched low and made another, wider circuit of the camp. But his search was fruitless. The Dark Druids appeared to be masters of hit and run tactics.
Figuring that they would get little additional sleep that night anyway, the party gathered their gear to head out. They reasoned that the Dark Druids may have divined their destination and were setting up ambushes all along the trail between the temple and their present location. They decided to stray from this path in the hopes of eluding further attack. Rubbing their eyes from fatigue, they set out to the northwest, into the darkness.
NEXT: The Temple
Thorntangle
First Post
Good one, Rel. Thanks for your sacrifice of precious family-out-of-town time.
I can see you've grown sick of constantly being on the receiving end of Entangle
I can see you've grown sick of constantly being on the receiving end of Entangle
Broccli_Head
Explorer
Yes Rel! Keep the poor players on their toes, make them use up all their spells, and let them not get any rest.
That is fantastic. Sure they get xps but then they are dead. Why couldn't Raven and Speaks esape the Briar Web?
And when are you going to comment on my story ?
That is fantastic. Sure they get xps but then they are dead. Why couldn't Raven and Speaks esape the Briar Web?
And when are you going to comment on my story
?Malachai_rose
First Post
Hardcore
lol, your hardcore Rel, hehe. That sounds like a rough night, but ya know what ? Sounds like Scar can kick some serious booty, thats one tough half orc Question, did the party have any healing left to heal their woulds, scrolls, potions or did they just have the memorized heals from Speaks ? Kinda curious, as a fellow divine caster of (in Broc's game) I was just wondering Wel great post and I hope ya get another one up soon.
lol, your hardcore Rel, hehe. That sounds like a rough night, but ya know what ? Sounds like Scar can kick some serious booty, thats one tough half orc
Question, did the party have any healing left to heal their woulds, scrolls, potions or did they just have the memorized heals from Speaks ? Kinda curious, as a fellow divine caster of (in Broc's game) I was just wondering Wel great post and I hope ya get another one up soon.
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Thanks for the comments all. I'll address the points you bring up before I post the next installment.
Thorntangle - I don't mind Entangle too bad. It isn't useful in every situation and it gives me a good excuse to throw way more bad guys at the party than they should be able to handle. But Briar Web is just plain nasty.
Broc - I love it when the players get that feeling of dread. They look at each other and say, "You know that he is going to burn us with those damn Dark Druids every night between here and the Temple so we might as well hurry."
Re: Briar Web. Like Entangle, you can try to break free from it every round. Unlike Entangle, you take damage (I think it's 1 pt per caster leve) every time you try whether you succeed or not. Speaks and Raven were already wounded from the first fight and just couldn't handle the damage. Speaks' player figured that since Briar Web gives you cover, you may as well just wait it out unless the enemy has some nasty area effect spells (he was banking that the Dark Druids didn't have Flame Strike yet).
And I promise to get caught up on your Story Hour during lunch tomorrow and tell you what I think. Thanks for your continued support, even though I've been a bit lax with mine of late.
Malachai Rose - Scar does indeed kick serious booty. He seems to specialize in taking damage sometimes. But his real strength is his versatility. Between his two-weapon fighting and his Mobility/Spring Attack capabilities, he can serve lots of different roles in combat. He's no slouch with his bow either though he rarely gets a chance to use it.
As far as healing goes, Speaks rarely prepares any unless the group is resting for a day after a particularly brutal combat. Raven can of course spontaneously cast healing. But as you may have noticed, he tends to do A LOT of buffing before combat. Combined with a few spells during the course of the combat and he has precious little healing to dole out afterwards. Which brings us to their wands.
Working in concert with Tadius Silvanus, after the Winter War, Speaks had crafted a pair of Wands of Cure Light Wounds. This gave them 100 castings of the spell and I was a bit concerned with what this would do to the challenge level of the game. Apparently my fears were unfounded as you'll notice that both the character deaths that have occurred have happened since then.
Speaks has always used these wands very sparingly. Usually he would use them to bring someone back from unconscious so they could flee to a location where they could rest and prepare more healing spells. He has still sometimes used several charges at a time however because the luck with these wands has been astonishingly bad. I've never seen so many 1's and 2's rolled on a d8 in my life until these wands came into play.
And ever since Raven has been in the party their use has accelerated. Opposite of what you'd think with adding a cleric to the party, eh? But Raven's player tends to have the attitude that "A wand unused is a useless wand." I believe that the pair of wands have a combined total of around 20 charges left (probably more like 35-40 as of this episode if that gives you any idea of what lies ahead).
So let me finally get to the actual update. I present:
The Temple
The party moved for the rest of the night. After dawn, Speaks and Raven stopped to commune and pray respectively. Speaks provided the group with a combination of magic that rendered them Invisible to Animals and allowed them to move through the woods Without a Trace. Armed with this magic, they marched all day until they tottered on the brink of exhaustion. They finally collapsed and kept a sleepy eye out for any trouble. Thankfully the next night passed without an attack by the Dark Druids.
Further considering their situation, they decided that it was important to be prepared for another attack by the Dark Druids. That meant having their most powerful magics ready to bring to bear and therefore foregoing the smoky steed that had allowed Raven to travel so quickly before. To make up for their general lack of speed, they resolved to travel for longer into the night and to try and pick up their pace at certain times during the day.
(We learned a lot about the travel rules regarding hustling and forced marching this session.)
The group set out and made best speed along the straightest route toward the Temple. The sooner they could go there and leave, the better as far as they were concerned. This feeling was intensified a day later when the woods made another disturbing transition.
As the group moved closer to the Temple, they passed an unmarked boundary after which the wood suddenly became dead. Not just a few trees dead, but the entire forest was devoid of life. There were plenty of trees and bushes but they were all gray and black and bore no leaves. No deer scampered away from their approach. No birds flew from tree to tree. No insects crawled the ground. The woods had become simply lifeless.
The party exchanged uneasy glances but decided not to tarry. Soon the party made camp and spent a fretful night in the decidedly unnatural silence of this dead place. At dawn when Speaks went to pray he made another disturbing discovery: The lands in which they traveled no longer had any link to the natural world. By struggling, he eventually felt his way back through the dead lands to the natural world beyond and managed to refresh his magic. But it was obvious that it would become more and more difficult to do so with each additional mile they traveled within the dead zone and each passing day he spent there.
The party kept to the cautious but enduring pace they had been setting. None enjoyed the extra long days of hiking. But the nights were restless and the shorter they were kept the better. Two more such days brought them to a large clearing and in the center stood the object of their quest.
The Temple stood some forty feet tall at the top of the cathedral. Four lower wings stood lower than the center and around all of it was a twelve foot high stone wall. In the center of the wall they faced was an archway flanked by a pair of statues. The statues were eight foot tall renderings of men in garb that resembled that of the Imperial Legions. In their right hands were maces and their left hands were raised above their heads.
Speaks assumed eagle form and took flight to scout the temple from the air. From above he could see that a path led from the archway to an alcove in one wing of the building. The roof of that wing formed a railed balcony occupied by several skeletons. In the courtyard lay a dozen or so dead bodies. Speaks suspected that they may not be quite as dead as they appeared and swooped lower for a closer look.
As he descended toward the courtyard, he was suddenly jolted by a powerful shock. He recovered his senses a moment later and flapped his wings vigorously to regain altitude. He cast about seeking an assailant but saw no one. He circled twice more looking for any signs of who or what had attacked him but found nothing. He returned to the ground where his companions stood and related what had happened.
Neither Raven nor Scar had ever had much use for subtlety. Raven cast a variety of protective magics on them (including Shield Other on Scar, Circle of Protection from Evil on himself and Invisibility to Undead on all of them). They drew weapons, checked their armor and strode forth through the archway. Speaks feared the lot of them being caught in another Entangle or Briar Web so he gave Scrubs instructions to protect Raven and transformed back to eagle form.
The approach to the Temple appeared perilous from the start. The skeletons on the balcony held bows fashioned of bone and stood poised to rain arrows down on them as they approached. None of the party was so gullible as to think that the bodies lying in the courtyard would stay that way. Who knew what other devious trickery awaited them.
Scar rushed the doorway alcove into the temple hoping to bottle up any inside who might attempt to sally forth. He also figured that this would also shield him from the skeletal archers on the balcony above. Unfortunately, it also took him beyond the range of one of Raven’s protective magics (Shield Other foiled again). Additionally, as he entered the alcove, he set off some kind of ward which sent crackling lightening shooting throughout the alcove. Scar dodged the worst of it but was still wounded.
Raven followed more slowly with Scrubs at his heel. Seeing the blaze of lightning that shot through the alcove, he only slightly regretted that Scar had invalidated his spell by haring off like that. Glancing around, Raven could already see the bodies on the ground starting to move. He moved forward with caution counting on the Invisibility to keep him hidden.
Speaks stayed just beyond the archway for the moment, keeping a watchful eye out for any who would try and assail them from behind.
Seeing the destructive forces he had unleashed by merely entering the alcove, Scar opted to wait until the others arrived before opening the door. He watched with disgust as the various corpses rose from the ground and began to cast about for what had disturbed their rest. His disgust turned to apprehension as several of them seemed to turn directly toward himself and Raven. But Raven had told him that they were invisible!
A pair of them entered the alcove, and raked their filthy claws at Scar. Raven had given explicit instructions not to attack lest it cast off their invisibility. “To hell with that!” thought Scar. He certainly wasn’t going to stand her and become a snack for these spawn of hell! He swung his hammer overhead and brought it crashing into the shoulder of one of the corpses. The thing staggered under the blow and as it lurched back, Scar saw several more of the undead turn his way.
Another pair of the ghoulish figures slashed at Raven at almost the same moment. His armor and the protective ward around him kept their claws from finding purchase. Raven knew that if an undead creature was smart enough, it may not be fooled by the Invisibility. But most of them still seemed unable to find him so he resolved to stick with the plan and hope for the best.
Scrubs however, only saw Raven come under attack. Speaks had charged him with guarding the Dwarf and his protective instincts kicked in. He slashed and bit at the Ghoul with all his strength. Several more of the creatures turned in that direction as though seeing the bear for the first time.
Speaks saw that the situation was about to get really out of hand. Most of the Ghouls had still not engaged the party and Speaks called forth the plants to Entangle the area. But even as he discharged the magic, he felt it find no purchase upon the land. The few black vines and weeds in the courtyard were only the gnarled and lifeless shells of their former vigor. Speaks suddenly became very afraid at what was about to happen.
Scar continued to smash at the Ghouls with his hammer with fairly good results. More of them continued to pack into the alcove with him, but he held his own. Out in the courtyard the creatures started to press in around Raven. Some seemed to know where he was and others clawed at the air in an attempt to locate him. Fearing that he would be overwhelmed, Raven muttered a quick prayer and wrapped himself in a cloak of Sanctuary.
Scrubs had no such cloak however. Several of the Ghouls attacked him and dug their claws into his flesh. He also came under fire by the skeletal archers who could now see him but most missed because of the intensity of the melee with the Ghouls. Speaks started to call out to Scrubs to retreat but found that he could not form the words with his avian throat. A moment later, the point became moot when he saw Scrubs go rigid under the hand of one of the Ghouls. He filled himself with resolve and transformed back to human form as he prepared to go and rescue his companion.
To Be Continued…
(Note: We stopped the session right about here. It was getting late that night and I knew we would be up till all hours if we tried to finish the combat. It made for a suspenseful week as everyone wondered what would happen. You only have to wait a day.)
Thorntangle - I don't mind Entangle too bad. It isn't useful in every situation and it gives me a good excuse to throw way more bad guys at the party than they should be able to handle. But Briar Web is just plain nasty.
Broc - I love it when the players get that feeling of dread. They look at each other and say, "You know that he is going to burn us with those damn Dark Druids every night between here and the Temple so we might as well hurry."
Re: Briar Web. Like Entangle, you can try to break free from it every round. Unlike Entangle, you take damage (I think it's 1 pt per caster leve) every time you try whether you succeed or not. Speaks and Raven were already wounded from the first fight and just couldn't handle the damage. Speaks' player figured that since Briar Web gives you cover, you may as well just wait it out unless the enemy has some nasty area effect spells (he was banking that the Dark Druids didn't have Flame Strike yet).
And I promise to get caught up on your Story Hour during lunch tomorrow and tell you what I think. Thanks for your continued support, even though I've been a bit lax with mine of late.
Malachai Rose - Scar does indeed kick serious booty. He seems to specialize in taking damage sometimes. But his real strength is his versatility. Between his two-weapon fighting and his Mobility/Spring Attack capabilities, he can serve lots of different roles in combat. He's no slouch with his bow either though he rarely gets a chance to use it.
As far as healing goes, Speaks rarely prepares any unless the group is resting for a day after a particularly brutal combat. Raven can of course spontaneously cast healing. But as you may have noticed, he tends to do A LOT of buffing before combat. Combined with a few spells during the course of the combat and he has precious little healing to dole out afterwards. Which brings us to their wands.
Working in concert with Tadius Silvanus, after the Winter War, Speaks had crafted a pair of Wands of Cure Light Wounds. This gave them 100 castings of the spell and I was a bit concerned with what this would do to the challenge level of the game. Apparently my fears were unfounded as you'll notice that both the character deaths that have occurred have happened since then.
Speaks has always used these wands very sparingly. Usually he would use them to bring someone back from unconscious so they could flee to a location where they could rest and prepare more healing spells. He has still sometimes used several charges at a time however because the luck with these wands has been astonishingly bad. I've never seen so many 1's and 2's rolled on a d8 in my life until these wands came into play.
And ever since Raven has been in the party their use has accelerated. Opposite of what you'd think with adding a cleric to the party, eh? But Raven's player tends to have the attitude that "A wand unused is a useless wand." I believe that the pair of wands have a combined total of around 20 charges left (probably more like 35-40 as of this episode if that gives you any idea of what lies ahead).
So let me finally get to the actual update. I present:
The Temple
The party moved for the rest of the night. After dawn, Speaks and Raven stopped to commune and pray respectively. Speaks provided the group with a combination of magic that rendered them Invisible to Animals and allowed them to move through the woods Without a Trace. Armed with this magic, they marched all day until they tottered on the brink of exhaustion. They finally collapsed and kept a sleepy eye out for any trouble. Thankfully the next night passed without an attack by the Dark Druids.
Further considering their situation, they decided that it was important to be prepared for another attack by the Dark Druids. That meant having their most powerful magics ready to bring to bear and therefore foregoing the smoky steed that had allowed Raven to travel so quickly before. To make up for their general lack of speed, they resolved to travel for longer into the night and to try and pick up their pace at certain times during the day.
(We learned a lot about the travel rules regarding hustling and forced marching this session.)
The group set out and made best speed along the straightest route toward the Temple. The sooner they could go there and leave, the better as far as they were concerned. This feeling was intensified a day later when the woods made another disturbing transition.
As the group moved closer to the Temple, they passed an unmarked boundary after which the wood suddenly became dead. Not just a few trees dead, but the entire forest was devoid of life. There were plenty of trees and bushes but they were all gray and black and bore no leaves. No deer scampered away from their approach. No birds flew from tree to tree. No insects crawled the ground. The woods had become simply lifeless.
The party exchanged uneasy glances but decided not to tarry. Soon the party made camp and spent a fretful night in the decidedly unnatural silence of this dead place. At dawn when Speaks went to pray he made another disturbing discovery: The lands in which they traveled no longer had any link to the natural world. By struggling, he eventually felt his way back through the dead lands to the natural world beyond and managed to refresh his magic. But it was obvious that it would become more and more difficult to do so with each additional mile they traveled within the dead zone and each passing day he spent there.
The party kept to the cautious but enduring pace they had been setting. None enjoyed the extra long days of hiking. But the nights were restless and the shorter they were kept the better. Two more such days brought them to a large clearing and in the center stood the object of their quest.
The Temple stood some forty feet tall at the top of the cathedral. Four lower wings stood lower than the center and around all of it was a twelve foot high stone wall. In the center of the wall they faced was an archway flanked by a pair of statues. The statues were eight foot tall renderings of men in garb that resembled that of the Imperial Legions. In their right hands were maces and their left hands were raised above their heads.
Speaks assumed eagle form and took flight to scout the temple from the air. From above he could see that a path led from the archway to an alcove in one wing of the building. The roof of that wing formed a railed balcony occupied by several skeletons. In the courtyard lay a dozen or so dead bodies. Speaks suspected that they may not be quite as dead as they appeared and swooped lower for a closer look.
As he descended toward the courtyard, he was suddenly jolted by a powerful shock. He recovered his senses a moment later and flapped his wings vigorously to regain altitude. He cast about seeking an assailant but saw no one. He circled twice more looking for any signs of who or what had attacked him but found nothing. He returned to the ground where his companions stood and related what had happened.
Neither Raven nor Scar had ever had much use for subtlety. Raven cast a variety of protective magics on them (including Shield Other on Scar, Circle of Protection from Evil on himself and Invisibility to Undead on all of them). They drew weapons, checked their armor and strode forth through the archway. Speaks feared the lot of them being caught in another Entangle or Briar Web so he gave Scrubs instructions to protect Raven and transformed back to eagle form.
The approach to the Temple appeared perilous from the start. The skeletons on the balcony held bows fashioned of bone and stood poised to rain arrows down on them as they approached. None of the party was so gullible as to think that the bodies lying in the courtyard would stay that way. Who knew what other devious trickery awaited them.
Scar rushed the doorway alcove into the temple hoping to bottle up any inside who might attempt to sally forth. He also figured that this would also shield him from the skeletal archers on the balcony above. Unfortunately, it also took him beyond the range of one of Raven’s protective magics (Shield Other foiled again). Additionally, as he entered the alcove, he set off some kind of ward which sent crackling lightening shooting throughout the alcove. Scar dodged the worst of it but was still wounded.
Raven followed more slowly with Scrubs at his heel. Seeing the blaze of lightning that shot through the alcove, he only slightly regretted that Scar had invalidated his spell by haring off like that. Glancing around, Raven could already see the bodies on the ground starting to move. He moved forward with caution counting on the Invisibility to keep him hidden.
Speaks stayed just beyond the archway for the moment, keeping a watchful eye out for any who would try and assail them from behind.
Seeing the destructive forces he had unleashed by merely entering the alcove, Scar opted to wait until the others arrived before opening the door. He watched with disgust as the various corpses rose from the ground and began to cast about for what had disturbed their rest. His disgust turned to apprehension as several of them seemed to turn directly toward himself and Raven. But Raven had told him that they were invisible!
A pair of them entered the alcove, and raked their filthy claws at Scar. Raven had given explicit instructions not to attack lest it cast off their invisibility. “To hell with that!” thought Scar. He certainly wasn’t going to stand her and become a snack for these spawn of hell! He swung his hammer overhead and brought it crashing into the shoulder of one of the corpses. The thing staggered under the blow and as it lurched back, Scar saw several more of the undead turn his way.
Another pair of the ghoulish figures slashed at Raven at almost the same moment. His armor and the protective ward around him kept their claws from finding purchase. Raven knew that if an undead creature was smart enough, it may not be fooled by the Invisibility. But most of them still seemed unable to find him so he resolved to stick with the plan and hope for the best.
Scrubs however, only saw Raven come under attack. Speaks had charged him with guarding the Dwarf and his protective instincts kicked in. He slashed and bit at the Ghoul with all his strength. Several more of the creatures turned in that direction as though seeing the bear for the first time.
Speaks saw that the situation was about to get really out of hand. Most of the Ghouls had still not engaged the party and Speaks called forth the plants to Entangle the area. But even as he discharged the magic, he felt it find no purchase upon the land. The few black vines and weeds in the courtyard were only the gnarled and lifeless shells of their former vigor. Speaks suddenly became very afraid at what was about to happen.
Scar continued to smash at the Ghouls with his hammer with fairly good results. More of them continued to pack into the alcove with him, but he held his own. Out in the courtyard the creatures started to press in around Raven. Some seemed to know where he was and others clawed at the air in an attempt to locate him. Fearing that he would be overwhelmed, Raven muttered a quick prayer and wrapped himself in a cloak of Sanctuary.
Scrubs had no such cloak however. Several of the Ghouls attacked him and dug their claws into his flesh. He also came under fire by the skeletal archers who could now see him but most missed because of the intensity of the melee with the Ghouls. Speaks started to call out to Scrubs to retreat but found that he could not form the words with his avian throat. A moment later, the point became moot when he saw Scrubs go rigid under the hand of one of the Ghouls. He filled himself with resolve and transformed back to human form as he prepared to go and rescue his companion.
To Be Continued…
(Note: We stopped the session right about here. It was getting late that night and I knew we would be up till all hours if we tried to finish the combat. It made for a suspenseful week as everyone wondered what would happen. You only have to wait a day.)
Raven_Khazundam
First Post
Why I don't Escape.
I am a tank, literally encased in metal, that avoids nothing and I routinely watch arrows bounce off my chest. My dex bonus is ZERO and my armour bonus is ELEVEN. I rarely make a Reflex save and consequently the Dark Druids have become a royal pain in the arse. Oh, and even if I made the Reflex save, it's highly doubtful I'd be able to move out of the area of effect of an entange.
As for healing, I don't prepare any Cure X spells, because there is no need to prepare them as a Good Cleric. Since I can spontaneously turn any spell I have into a Cure X, its more productive and tactically sound to prepare spells that are useful to the current situation. In this case Conscrecrate, because as my RBDM pointed out my Chr. is belllloooowwwwyyy and I need all the help I can get to turn undead.
"You're a cleric, why would you bag your Charisma???" Well, for one I didn't read the turning rules. I wasn't concerned with that aspect of the cleric and who'd thunk they'd base your turning ability on Charisma. [As an aside I just returned to dnd after nearly 10 years of playing Rolemaster.]
Also Raven's background provides some basis for his make-up. Growing up, Raven's family always sent a son to the Church of Moradin and that role was to be filled by Raven's brother. Unlike my brawny and unruly self, my brother was the perfect canidate for the church, cerebral and personable. Well he was as personable as a dwarf could get. Right after his training Raven's brother went on a personal pilgrimage and during his journey he was ambushed and killed. When this news reached our clan we greived for my brother, but our grief did not overwhelm our families obligation to provide a son to the church of Moradin. I was called into my Grandfather's study and told I had been selected to take my brother's place in the church. I told my grandfather I would be honored to carry the honor of the clan and to serve the church as faithfully as my brother would have served. So you see I gave up my dream of being a Forge Master, but I was given a chance to honor my brother's spirit and the maintain our tradition by becoming a Cleric.
I am a tank, literally encased in metal, that avoids nothing and I routinely watch arrows bounce off my chest. My dex bonus is ZERO and my armour bonus is ELEVEN. I rarely make a Reflex save and consequently the Dark Druids have become a royal pain in the arse. Oh, and even if I made the Reflex save, it's highly doubtful I'd be able to move out of the area of effect of an entange.
As for healing, I don't prepare any Cure X spells, because there is no need to prepare them as a Good Cleric. Since I can spontaneously turn any spell I have into a Cure X, its more productive and tactically sound to prepare spells that are useful to the current situation. In this case Conscrecrate, because as my RBDM pointed out my Chr. is belllloooowwwwyyy and I need all the help I can get to turn undead.
"You're a cleric, why would you bag your Charisma???" Well, for one I didn't read the turning rules. I wasn't concerned with that aspect of the cleric and who'd thunk they'd base your turning ability on Charisma. [As an aside I just returned to dnd after nearly 10 years of playing Rolemaster.]
Also Raven's background provides some basis for his make-up. Growing up, Raven's family always sent a son to the Church of Moradin and that role was to be filled by Raven's brother. Unlike my brawny and unruly self, my brother was the perfect canidate for the church, cerebral and personable. Well he was as personable as a dwarf could get. Right after his training Raven's brother went on a personal pilgrimage and during his journey he was ambushed and killed. When this news reached our clan we greived for my brother, but our grief did not overwhelm our families obligation to provide a son to the church of Moradin. I was called into my Grandfather's study and told I had been selected to take my brother's place in the church. I told my grandfather I would be honored to carry the honor of the clan and to serve the church as faithfully as my brother would have served. So you see I gave up my dream of being a Forge Master, but I was given a chance to honor my brother's spirit and the maintain our tradition by becoming a Cleric.
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