Rhenny
Adventurer
Session 8 - "Air Worship and Manticore Hunting"
PCs (3rd Level)
Pate the Half-Elven Bard (in possession of a map that shows the Sumber Hills perhaps an area where an elemental node exists)
Zeed the Arakocra Rogue (fearful of hippogriff riders who have attacked in the area – also hopeful to find more Arakocra in the Dessarin Valley)
Hundar the Half-Orc Fighter (Tracking Gar Shatterkeep, who sunk the ship Hundar sailed on)
Turytopple the Gnome Paladin (A gnome trying to fight evil)
Kippipop the Gnome Sorcerer (Looking for mystery and lore)
Namfoodle “Foo” the Gnome Rogue (Trying to find riches)
Hundar, Tury and Namfoodle were the only active PCs for this 2 hour session. The others still haven't traveled to the spire.
The party spent the night resting in one of the knight’s rooms in the Feathergale Knight Spire. At first, Hundar wanted to stay up and keep watch, but after an hour or so, he decided to sleep as well. The group felt that they were safe in the spire.
The next morning there was a knock at the door. Tury called out to ask who it was and he heard a female voice. A knight named Savra Baleabranta introduced herself and invited the party to breakfast. Foo, recovering from death (having been revivified prior to their sleep), slept in while Tury and Hundar went with Savra to the great hall. They sat at the large table joining a few knights and they noticed that Barister, the cleric who revived Foo, was there too. After talking a bit, Tury got Barister to check on Foo. Barister walked into the room and shut the door. Inside, he had a private conversation with Foo, and soon after walked out a few minutes later. He told the others that their little friend would be fine with a little rest.
After a few hours, Savra invited the party to ascend the spire and visit the garden at the pinnacle. On top, they saw a telescope pointed down to the east, and from the edge of the pinnacle the party felt the wind rush past them, the sun warm their bodies, and could see all around the Sighing Valley. Immediately, Tury wanted to look into the telescope. His urge to investigate and tinker drew him towards it. Unfortunately, the eye piece was too high for him to look into, so he asked Foo to boost him up. Foo, still weak from his ordeal, didn’t really want to do it, but Tury was very convincing. When Tury looked through the telescope, he saw that it was pointed across the valley to the east into a pass cut by a river. He also saw a couple of cloaked figures near an opening in the canyon ledge. The cloaks were not like the ones the Believers or the Bringers of Woe wore, nor were they like the rock encrusted armor that the Black Earth Cultists wore. They seemed to be lighter, white and sky blue. The figures looked as if they were keeping watch. Since the power of the telescope was not great enough to make out more detail, Tury took out some of his tools and started to tinker with the lens. Savra saw this and immediately intervened. She told the gnome that he should not do that unless the Lord Commander gave authorization. Tury blabbed about the cloaked figures and asked Savra about them. Savra told the group that they were not a concern.
After Tury pressed more, Savra told them that they were allies who worship an air god. Tury could tell that Savra was uncomfortable speaking about them, kind of like she was torn – should she have said anything or should she have kept it to herself. Just then, a few other knights came up to the spire. They walked the perimeter and one shouted and pointed to the south east…”The Manticore is up! Alert the others.” After the other knight ran down the stairs, the party heard a horn blow from within the spire. Then the others, Savra and the other knight, ran down the stairs. The party followed.
At ground level, many knights were gathering and saddling their mounts, some giant vultures. Thurl Merosska was there and he greeted the adventurers and asked if they wanted to join their hunt. Tury was most eager. Foo and Hundar also accepted the invitation. After a very quick pep talk, some instructions on how to fly the mounts, the Lord Commander took the ring from his finger and said, “whoever strikes the killing blow and brings back the head of the manticore shall have this ring.” Before leaving, the Lord Commander also fitted each of the heroes with a special backpack. Hundar refused to take it, but the gnomes strapped the packs to their backs. He told them that they could pull a cord on the pack if they started to fall, and a contraption inside the pack would inflate a balloon that would slow the fall. Tury was fascinated by the contraption so he volunteered to ride on the same mount as Foo so that he could tinker with his pack while they flew. With that, the group took off. Foo and Tury rode upon a griffin together, Foo at the reins. Hundar took one of the giant vultures.
The hunting party flew for 10 minutes and encountered some cloud cover. Hundar struck off away from the other knights and seemed to be controlling his mount rather well. Foo followed a little less adroitly. Eventually, Foo spotted the manticore and pointed so that Hundar could see it. Hundar took his vulture higher and controlling it like an experienced flyer, was able to surprise the flying manticore. The party soared, banked, dove and Hundar was able to do tremendous damage to the beast. When Foo and Tury got close flying the griffin, the manticore slashed out at the griffin and did some horrible damage to the mount. Seeing this, Tury used his shield to try to protect the griffin on subsequent attacks, he also wrestled with his urge to pull the cord on Foo’s backpack. He was being protective of his friend, but he was also dying to see how the contraption worked.
After the first few passes, the party did substantial damage to the manticore so it banked way and got lost in the clouds. After a few more moments of flying and searching, they eventually spotted it, but when Hundar flew his giant vulture toward it, a volley of tail spikes came directly for them. Hundar pulled hard on the reins to maneuver the vulture so that he’d be the target of the spikes. Two of the spikes flew by him, but the third hit the vulture in the neck. Foo and Tury got in some attacks, and Foo, muttering a secret prayer, was able to use his awesome dexterity to fly the beast and attempt to attack simultaneously, but he was unable to injure the beast. Then, the party saw one of the Feathergale knights break though the clouds and blow a horn. That’s when Hundar made a final pass and cut the manticore down with his great axe.
The hunting party convened and they landed where the manticore had fallen. Hundar chopped its head off and received accolades from the other knights. The others urged the heroes to return to the spire so that they could tend to their mounts, and even though the heroes wanted to explore to find the manticore’s lair, they agreed that they should return the mounts. Tury, feeling bad for the mounts that had taken damage, used his healing hand to begin the healing process for both the griffin and the vulture.
Back at the spire, Thurl Merosska congratulated Hundar and gave him the ring. That’s when Hundar called out the three knights who they had encountered the day before. To Hundar, the knights had abandoned the fight they were having with the Earth Cultists when Tury, Hundar and Foo ran down the tunnel made by the fleeing bullette and its Earth Cult rider. He called them cowards. Then he challenged them to a non-lethal fight. The Lord Commander, allowed the fight to take place upon at the pinnacle of the tower. He told them to fight with wooden clubs while the rest of them got ready for the anniversary feast.
Well, Hundar and the three Knights went up to the top of the spire to fight with wooden clubs. At first the three knights gang attacked Hundar, but then one of them told the others that he'd fight the half-orc alone. After trading blows...lots of misses too...many trip attempts and swinging clubs, Hundar finally bested the knight. Tury and Foo watched. They could tell that the knights were trying to be honorable. Valax, the one that fought Hundar, even tried to concede and give victory to Hundar, but Hundar slapped him down nonetheless. The others helped up Valax and mumbled..."we'll see what Lord Merosska says about these guys...the half-orc especially." Then everyone went down to clean up and attend the feast.
Comments
It was interesting to run flying combat. I was shocked that none of my players rolled so poorly that they fell from their mounts.
The half-orc’s critical hit against the manticore made that fight pretty easy. Although, one more hit to either mount that the heroes were riding could have sent them plummeting to the ground from 60’-100’ in the sky. The gnomes had the balloon packs, but the half-orc didn’t, certainly a risk that the player knew about, but his character refused the pack since he was too proud.
Exp: 400 xp each PC
If you are one of my players…don’t read this:
When Barister spoke with Foo, he told Foo about the god that he worshiped, the great air god, Yan-C-Bin. When Foo asked how he could repay Barister for reviving him and saving his life, the cleric asked Foo to consider worshiping or praying to Yan-C-Bin. Foo felt that the cleric was sincere. All the religious talk made Foo a little uncomfortable, but he agreed to think on it.
When Foo was flying the griffin, he did mutter a secret prayer to Yan-C-Bin.
Now...it seems that many gears are turning. I am rally interested to see how this plays out.
PCs (3rd Level)
Pate the Half-Elven Bard (in possession of a map that shows the Sumber Hills perhaps an area where an elemental node exists)
Zeed the Arakocra Rogue (fearful of hippogriff riders who have attacked in the area – also hopeful to find more Arakocra in the Dessarin Valley)
Hundar the Half-Orc Fighter (Tracking Gar Shatterkeep, who sunk the ship Hundar sailed on)
Turytopple the Gnome Paladin (A gnome trying to fight evil)
Kippipop the Gnome Sorcerer (Looking for mystery and lore)
Namfoodle “Foo” the Gnome Rogue (Trying to find riches)
Hundar, Tury and Namfoodle were the only active PCs for this 2 hour session. The others still haven't traveled to the spire.
The party spent the night resting in one of the knight’s rooms in the Feathergale Knight Spire. At first, Hundar wanted to stay up and keep watch, but after an hour or so, he decided to sleep as well. The group felt that they were safe in the spire.
The next morning there was a knock at the door. Tury called out to ask who it was and he heard a female voice. A knight named Savra Baleabranta introduced herself and invited the party to breakfast. Foo, recovering from death (having been revivified prior to their sleep), slept in while Tury and Hundar went with Savra to the great hall. They sat at the large table joining a few knights and they noticed that Barister, the cleric who revived Foo, was there too. After talking a bit, Tury got Barister to check on Foo. Barister walked into the room and shut the door. Inside, he had a private conversation with Foo, and soon after walked out a few minutes later. He told the others that their little friend would be fine with a little rest.
After a few hours, Savra invited the party to ascend the spire and visit the garden at the pinnacle. On top, they saw a telescope pointed down to the east, and from the edge of the pinnacle the party felt the wind rush past them, the sun warm their bodies, and could see all around the Sighing Valley. Immediately, Tury wanted to look into the telescope. His urge to investigate and tinker drew him towards it. Unfortunately, the eye piece was too high for him to look into, so he asked Foo to boost him up. Foo, still weak from his ordeal, didn’t really want to do it, but Tury was very convincing. When Tury looked through the telescope, he saw that it was pointed across the valley to the east into a pass cut by a river. He also saw a couple of cloaked figures near an opening in the canyon ledge. The cloaks were not like the ones the Believers or the Bringers of Woe wore, nor were they like the rock encrusted armor that the Black Earth Cultists wore. They seemed to be lighter, white and sky blue. The figures looked as if they were keeping watch. Since the power of the telescope was not great enough to make out more detail, Tury took out some of his tools and started to tinker with the lens. Savra saw this and immediately intervened. She told the gnome that he should not do that unless the Lord Commander gave authorization. Tury blabbed about the cloaked figures and asked Savra about them. Savra told the group that they were not a concern.
After Tury pressed more, Savra told them that they were allies who worship an air god. Tury could tell that Savra was uncomfortable speaking about them, kind of like she was torn – should she have said anything or should she have kept it to herself. Just then, a few other knights came up to the spire. They walked the perimeter and one shouted and pointed to the south east…”The Manticore is up! Alert the others.” After the other knight ran down the stairs, the party heard a horn blow from within the spire. Then the others, Savra and the other knight, ran down the stairs. The party followed.
At ground level, many knights were gathering and saddling their mounts, some giant vultures. Thurl Merosska was there and he greeted the adventurers and asked if they wanted to join their hunt. Tury was most eager. Foo and Hundar also accepted the invitation. After a very quick pep talk, some instructions on how to fly the mounts, the Lord Commander took the ring from his finger and said, “whoever strikes the killing blow and brings back the head of the manticore shall have this ring.” Before leaving, the Lord Commander also fitted each of the heroes with a special backpack. Hundar refused to take it, but the gnomes strapped the packs to their backs. He told them that they could pull a cord on the pack if they started to fall, and a contraption inside the pack would inflate a balloon that would slow the fall. Tury was fascinated by the contraption so he volunteered to ride on the same mount as Foo so that he could tinker with his pack while they flew. With that, the group took off. Foo and Tury rode upon a griffin together, Foo at the reins. Hundar took one of the giant vultures.
The hunting party flew for 10 minutes and encountered some cloud cover. Hundar struck off away from the other knights and seemed to be controlling his mount rather well. Foo followed a little less adroitly. Eventually, Foo spotted the manticore and pointed so that Hundar could see it. Hundar took his vulture higher and controlling it like an experienced flyer, was able to surprise the flying manticore. The party soared, banked, dove and Hundar was able to do tremendous damage to the beast. When Foo and Tury got close flying the griffin, the manticore slashed out at the griffin and did some horrible damage to the mount. Seeing this, Tury used his shield to try to protect the griffin on subsequent attacks, he also wrestled with his urge to pull the cord on Foo’s backpack. He was being protective of his friend, but he was also dying to see how the contraption worked.
After the first few passes, the party did substantial damage to the manticore so it banked way and got lost in the clouds. After a few more moments of flying and searching, they eventually spotted it, but when Hundar flew his giant vulture toward it, a volley of tail spikes came directly for them. Hundar pulled hard on the reins to maneuver the vulture so that he’d be the target of the spikes. Two of the spikes flew by him, but the third hit the vulture in the neck. Foo and Tury got in some attacks, and Foo, muttering a secret prayer, was able to use his awesome dexterity to fly the beast and attempt to attack simultaneously, but he was unable to injure the beast. Then, the party saw one of the Feathergale knights break though the clouds and blow a horn. That’s when Hundar made a final pass and cut the manticore down with his great axe.
The hunting party convened and they landed where the manticore had fallen. Hundar chopped its head off and received accolades from the other knights. The others urged the heroes to return to the spire so that they could tend to their mounts, and even though the heroes wanted to explore to find the manticore’s lair, they agreed that they should return the mounts. Tury, feeling bad for the mounts that had taken damage, used his healing hand to begin the healing process for both the griffin and the vulture.
Back at the spire, Thurl Merosska congratulated Hundar and gave him the ring. That’s when Hundar called out the three knights who they had encountered the day before. To Hundar, the knights had abandoned the fight they were having with the Earth Cultists when Tury, Hundar and Foo ran down the tunnel made by the fleeing bullette and its Earth Cult rider. He called them cowards. Then he challenged them to a non-lethal fight. The Lord Commander, allowed the fight to take place upon at the pinnacle of the tower. He told them to fight with wooden clubs while the rest of them got ready for the anniversary feast.
Well, Hundar and the three Knights went up to the top of the spire to fight with wooden clubs. At first the three knights gang attacked Hundar, but then one of them told the others that he'd fight the half-orc alone. After trading blows...lots of misses too...many trip attempts and swinging clubs, Hundar finally bested the knight. Tury and Foo watched. They could tell that the knights were trying to be honorable. Valax, the one that fought Hundar, even tried to concede and give victory to Hundar, but Hundar slapped him down nonetheless. The others helped up Valax and mumbled..."we'll see what Lord Merosska says about these guys...the half-orc especially." Then everyone went down to clean up and attend the feast.
Comments
It was interesting to run flying combat. I was shocked that none of my players rolled so poorly that they fell from their mounts.
The half-orc’s critical hit against the manticore made that fight pretty easy. Although, one more hit to either mount that the heroes were riding could have sent them plummeting to the ground from 60’-100’ in the sky. The gnomes had the balloon packs, but the half-orc didn’t, certainly a risk that the player knew about, but his character refused the pack since he was too proud.
Exp: 400 xp each PC
If you are one of my players…don’t read this:
When Barister spoke with Foo, he told Foo about the god that he worshiped, the great air god, Yan-C-Bin. When Foo asked how he could repay Barister for reviving him and saving his life, the cleric asked Foo to consider worshiping or praying to Yan-C-Bin. Foo felt that the cleric was sincere. All the religious talk made Foo a little uncomfortable, but he agreed to think on it.
When Foo was flying the griffin, he did mutter a secret prayer to Yan-C-Bin.
Now...it seems that many gears are turning. I am rally interested to see how this plays out.
