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Rhenny's Princes of the Apocalypse Campaign Logs
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<blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 6996150" data-attributes="member: 18333"><p>Session 22 – Escape from the Temple of the Crushing Wave (2 ½ hour session)</p><p></p><p>As the party started backtracking to leave the Temple, they came to a T shaped hall neart he alter room. As Hundar, Pate and Foo crossed into the room, Tornade behind them, shadows grew and coalesced from under a closed door to the south. The group fought against three of the shadows, as two more joined the ranks. Through the battle, Tornade fired scorching rays at three of the foes, as the others attacked with melee weapons. Hundar nearly felt the cold sting of necrotic damage and strength drain, but Pate was able to distract the shadow with a discordant song. The party prevailed and when they put the shadows to rest, they checked the south room finding it an abandoned living quarters with a alcove that looked out upon one of the canals behind the building. </p><p></p><p>The group decided to continue toward the canal where they had moored the boat that they arrived with, and as they made their way toward it they heard the shouts of humans in panic. Crossing over one bridge, the adventurers saw a few Crushing Wave cultists run to the north trying to escape. Hundar and the others let them go, and continued to the south to find their boat. Hundar steadied the skiff as the others climbed in, and Hundar paddled them down stream into the dark winding tunnel leading back to the surface. For an hour, Hundar paddled as the others took a short rest. Then, from the dark ceiling the group was attacked by four Grell. These tentacle beasts decscended upon them thwacking Pate, Hundar, Tornade and Foo with tentacle and beak. None of the heroes succumbed to the Grell poison, and after Hundar and Foo were able to kill one of the Grell, and Tornade ignited a fireball injuring the other three, Pate created an aura of vitality to help bolster the health of Tornade, and ultimate the others too. The chittering Grell fled to save themselves from the damage these adventurers were dishing out, and heroes kept rowing toward the surface.</p><p></p><p>When they rowed out from the tunnel back to Rivergard Keep, it was early night. Hundar saw the larger ship (which he later named "Charlotte") and told the others to jump aboard. With his expertise and backround as a sailor, he was able to set the sails and stear the ship, giving orders to Foo, the one most eager to help. After sailing down river about 10 miles, Hundar anchored near the shore and everyone prepared to get a night’s rest. </p><p></p><p>Later that night while Foo was on watch, he saw some flying shapes in the moonlight. He ran below deck to alert the others and hide, hoping that the vultures and riders, Feathergale folk, would not see them. After 6 minutes, Hundar waiting at the door below deck with Windvane, the spear, ready in his hands, the group heard a three thudding sounds on the deck. Then the door burst in and a Feathergale Knight clad in scalemail was pushing down the stairs. Hundar marshaled all his energy and stabbed the knight four times with the magic weapon, killing him quickly. Behind were two others, Hurricanes, the monk-like cultists that the party had encountered before as well. Pate stepped up and thunderclapped to damage the Hurricanes, as Tornade moved up and used sorcery points to guard Pate and Hundar from a thunderwave that sent one of the two Hurricanes back 10’. Foo stabbed at one of the foes, and then Hundar stepped up and killed one, and as the other one was falling back from the thunderwave, nearly tripping over some of the ropes and tackle on the deck, Hundar put the spear through his gut. Then seeing the vultures on deck, Hundar ran and tried to jump upon one, but the bird squaked and shook him off. Then the pet vultures attacked Hundar and did some damage as Foo jumped up to help Hundar dispatch one of the three giant vultures. Ultimately, the adventurers killed the vultures. Hundar dumped the bodies off the ship on to the shore, and then they all went back to sleep to finish their night’s rest.</p><p></p><p>During the night, Hundar could not sleep. He had horrible nightmares that disturbed him. He felt some strange connection with the air node, and in his dream he saw a huge thunder cloud, and an old man, 20’ tall laughing at him, beckoning him to come forward. The man spoke to him and told him to bring Windvane to the air node. It was Yan-C-Bin, asking, almost commanding Hundar to release him. Hundar asked what he’d get if he helped and brought Windvane to the node, and the old man laughed. Then the image faded, but the entire night, Hundar felt the unrest and could not sleep. Instead, he prepared the ship for sail, and began sailing them down to Ironford. Exhausted, Hundar kept himself at the helm while the others slept, and in six hours they reached Ironford.</p><p></p><p>In Ironford, the group found a few boatmen at the warf, and went into the small village to see if they could sell the ship. No one in the area had the money to buy such an expensive vessel, and realizing that the power of Windvane was beginning to take a toll on Hundar, the group decided to sail further south to Goldenfields so that they could check in with the Abbot Ellardin </p><p>Darovik. </p><p></p><p>At the temple, the group met with the Abbot, and he thanked them for helping the people of Goldenfields after the Crushing Wave cultists detonated a devastation orb. Hundar asked him about his dreams and Windvane, and Drown, and the Abbot did some research. He told the group that these were evil weapons attuned to the elemental nodes themselves. With these weapons, a prophet of the element could create devastation orbs, and with enough time and ritual magic could even open the node to call forth one of the elemental gods. It seemed as if the increased activity of the cults was in some way tied into the power of the nodes and perhaps an attempt to call forth their gods. The party told the Abbot that they had slain Gar Shatterkeel, but Airesi was still alive, held captive in Red Larch, or so they thought, although before dying Gar said that the adventurers plans to disrupt the Cult of Howling Hatred did not go as they planned, and they would return to Red Larch to realize their failure. With new fear that perhaps the earth cult and the fire cult also had prophets with weapons that could be used to open their respective nodes, the group realized the danger to all in the Dessarin Valley, even the known world. Ellardin told the heroes that they should not let any of the prophets get their hands on these weapons, and if they could find the nodes, throwing the attuned weapon into the node could cause magical feedback, which might collapse the node. This was a way to seal the nodes and keep the elemental gods from entering their world.</p><p></p><p>After hearing all this, Hundar asked if the Abbot could protect him from Windvane’s influence and stop the nightmares, but the Abbot said he was not powerful enough to do that. Then Hundar asked about the cursed greataxe they had found. Ellardin, with help from Pate, who was able to aid by chanting a prayer Ellardin taught him, removed the curse from the greataxe. In an attempt to deal with his exhaustion, Hundar gave up Windvane, and took the greataxe instead. As he hefted it, he could tell it was magical (+1 weapon – with 0 weight when wielded). Unattuned to Windvane, Hundar felt much better, although exhausted. </p><p></p><p>Ellardin offered rooms at the temple for the party to sleep the night as well as food and drink. Before sleeping, the party struck a deal with the Abbot, renting him the use of the ship, which he said would help Goldenfields distribute produce up and down river. For 2000 gold, the Abbot would use the ship for 1 year, but during that time, he would always have a place for the adventurers to stay, and if they came to him in need of services like curing diseases or curses, he’d be happy to assist. The party thanked him and took the night to rest, Hundar falling into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.</p><p></p><p>Comments</p><p></p><p>It has been a while since I've been able and willing to DM again with so much going on in life. It was fun to get back to it, although I did feel a little rusty.</p><p></p><p>A lot of the story was developed during this session as the group learned more about the nodes, the magic items, the cults and the gods that the cults were trying to call to their world.</p><p></p><p>As far as combat, the Grell were pretty tough and could have done more damage to the party if their poison worked against one or more of the PCs. I used a morale check to see if they would bolt after the fireball, one of the Grell tried to be a hero (and ended up dead). The others escaped to fight another day.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rhenny, post: 6996150, member: 18333"] Session 22 – Escape from the Temple of the Crushing Wave (2 ½ hour session) As the party started backtracking to leave the Temple, they came to a T shaped hall neart he alter room. As Hundar, Pate and Foo crossed into the room, Tornade behind them, shadows grew and coalesced from under a closed door to the south. The group fought against three of the shadows, as two more joined the ranks. Through the battle, Tornade fired scorching rays at three of the foes, as the others attacked with melee weapons. Hundar nearly felt the cold sting of necrotic damage and strength drain, but Pate was able to distract the shadow with a discordant song. The party prevailed and when they put the shadows to rest, they checked the south room finding it an abandoned living quarters with a alcove that looked out upon one of the canals behind the building. The group decided to continue toward the canal where they had moored the boat that they arrived with, and as they made their way toward it they heard the shouts of humans in panic. Crossing over one bridge, the adventurers saw a few Crushing Wave cultists run to the north trying to escape. Hundar and the others let them go, and continued to the south to find their boat. Hundar steadied the skiff as the others climbed in, and Hundar paddled them down stream into the dark winding tunnel leading back to the surface. For an hour, Hundar paddled as the others took a short rest. Then, from the dark ceiling the group was attacked by four Grell. These tentacle beasts decscended upon them thwacking Pate, Hundar, Tornade and Foo with tentacle and beak. None of the heroes succumbed to the Grell poison, and after Hundar and Foo were able to kill one of the Grell, and Tornade ignited a fireball injuring the other three, Pate created an aura of vitality to help bolster the health of Tornade, and ultimate the others too. The chittering Grell fled to save themselves from the damage these adventurers were dishing out, and heroes kept rowing toward the surface. When they rowed out from the tunnel back to Rivergard Keep, it was early night. Hundar saw the larger ship (which he later named "Charlotte") and told the others to jump aboard. With his expertise and backround as a sailor, he was able to set the sails and stear the ship, giving orders to Foo, the one most eager to help. After sailing down river about 10 miles, Hundar anchored near the shore and everyone prepared to get a night’s rest. Later that night while Foo was on watch, he saw some flying shapes in the moonlight. He ran below deck to alert the others and hide, hoping that the vultures and riders, Feathergale folk, would not see them. After 6 minutes, Hundar waiting at the door below deck with Windvane, the spear, ready in his hands, the group heard a three thudding sounds on the deck. Then the door burst in and a Feathergale Knight clad in scalemail was pushing down the stairs. Hundar marshaled all his energy and stabbed the knight four times with the magic weapon, killing him quickly. Behind were two others, Hurricanes, the monk-like cultists that the party had encountered before as well. Pate stepped up and thunderclapped to damage the Hurricanes, as Tornade moved up and used sorcery points to guard Pate and Hundar from a thunderwave that sent one of the two Hurricanes back 10’. Foo stabbed at one of the foes, and then Hundar stepped up and killed one, and as the other one was falling back from the thunderwave, nearly tripping over some of the ropes and tackle on the deck, Hundar put the spear through his gut. Then seeing the vultures on deck, Hundar ran and tried to jump upon one, but the bird squaked and shook him off. Then the pet vultures attacked Hundar and did some damage as Foo jumped up to help Hundar dispatch one of the three giant vultures. Ultimately, the adventurers killed the vultures. Hundar dumped the bodies off the ship on to the shore, and then they all went back to sleep to finish their night’s rest. During the night, Hundar could not sleep. He had horrible nightmares that disturbed him. He felt some strange connection with the air node, and in his dream he saw a huge thunder cloud, and an old man, 20’ tall laughing at him, beckoning him to come forward. The man spoke to him and told him to bring Windvane to the air node. It was Yan-C-Bin, asking, almost commanding Hundar to release him. Hundar asked what he’d get if he helped and brought Windvane to the node, and the old man laughed. Then the image faded, but the entire night, Hundar felt the unrest and could not sleep. Instead, he prepared the ship for sail, and began sailing them down to Ironford. Exhausted, Hundar kept himself at the helm while the others slept, and in six hours they reached Ironford. In Ironford, the group found a few boatmen at the warf, and went into the small village to see if they could sell the ship. No one in the area had the money to buy such an expensive vessel, and realizing that the power of Windvane was beginning to take a toll on Hundar, the group decided to sail further south to Goldenfields so that they could check in with the Abbot Ellardin Darovik. At the temple, the group met with the Abbot, and he thanked them for helping the people of Goldenfields after the Crushing Wave cultists detonated a devastation orb. Hundar asked him about his dreams and Windvane, and Drown, and the Abbot did some research. He told the group that these were evil weapons attuned to the elemental nodes themselves. With these weapons, a prophet of the element could create devastation orbs, and with enough time and ritual magic could even open the node to call forth one of the elemental gods. It seemed as if the increased activity of the cults was in some way tied into the power of the nodes and perhaps an attempt to call forth their gods. The party told the Abbot that they had slain Gar Shatterkeel, but Airesi was still alive, held captive in Red Larch, or so they thought, although before dying Gar said that the adventurers plans to disrupt the Cult of Howling Hatred did not go as they planned, and they would return to Red Larch to realize their failure. With new fear that perhaps the earth cult and the fire cult also had prophets with weapons that could be used to open their respective nodes, the group realized the danger to all in the Dessarin Valley, even the known world. Ellardin told the heroes that they should not let any of the prophets get their hands on these weapons, and if they could find the nodes, throwing the attuned weapon into the node could cause magical feedback, which might collapse the node. This was a way to seal the nodes and keep the elemental gods from entering their world. After hearing all this, Hundar asked if the Abbot could protect him from Windvane’s influence and stop the nightmares, but the Abbot said he was not powerful enough to do that. Then Hundar asked about the cursed greataxe they had found. Ellardin, with help from Pate, who was able to aid by chanting a prayer Ellardin taught him, removed the curse from the greataxe. In an attempt to deal with his exhaustion, Hundar gave up Windvane, and took the greataxe instead. As he hefted it, he could tell it was magical (+1 weapon – with 0 weight when wielded). Unattuned to Windvane, Hundar felt much better, although exhausted. Ellardin offered rooms at the temple for the party to sleep the night as well as food and drink. Before sleeping, the party struck a deal with the Abbot, renting him the use of the ship, which he said would help Goldenfields distribute produce up and down river. For 2000 gold, the Abbot would use the ship for 1 year, but during that time, he would always have a place for the adventurers to stay, and if they came to him in need of services like curing diseases or curses, he’d be happy to assist. The party thanked him and took the night to rest, Hundar falling into a deep, uninterrupted sleep. Comments It has been a while since I've been able and willing to DM again with so much going on in life. It was fun to get back to it, although I did feel a little rusty. A lot of the story was developed during this session as the group learned more about the nodes, the magic items, the cults and the gods that the cults were trying to call to their world. As far as combat, the Grell were pretty tough and could have done more damage to the party if their poison worked against one or more of the PCs. I used a morale check to see if they would bolt after the fireball, one of the Grell tried to be a hero (and ended up dead). The others escaped to fight another day. [/QUOTE]
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