Banewarrens d20 (Angelsboi's party)

[diaglo]

A taste of their own medicine

Veridian and Bernedette retrieved bolts and arrows not destroyed in the slaying of the beast. Veridian then turned to the chests. Everyone else stepped way back. Thane provided the light from on far. Timmay and Bernedette went to find Ulfgar. Erik and Bartol waited to see if there was anything worth carrying.

Veridian examined the chests very carefully. He was methodical, but cautious. Finally, he tried the lock. Neither chest was locked. The party hunkered down. The first chest opened to reveal a hoard of silver coins. They were very old and the damp conditions had tarnished them. Veridian opened the second chest. Again, more coins, but inside he also found two vials. Thane hummed a spell. Bartol strapped his lantern to his belt as he and Erik began to pack the coins.

"Magic," he announced. "One is conjuration. The other is..."

CRashhhh, Thump

"By Great Moradin's Hammer," a voice called. Ulfgar had company.

Bartol dropped everything. He sprinted back to the door. He drew his Greatsword on the way. His lantern just hinted at the scene. Ulfgar had a pack of trogs surrounding him. The largest of the group wore a breastplate and began to hum.

Bernedette and Timmay struggled out of a patch of grease.

“Do I want fries with that? Oh, Ronald McClown,” Timmay yelled. “You are so gonna pay for that. Taste the power of Timmay‘s Crippling Caution.”

Timmay hummed his own tune of magic. The pack of trogs froze. Their tactics changed. Suddenly, they were no longer on the offensive. It was as if they had lost all ability to attack and thought only to save their own hides. The leader was the only one unaffected.

A random thought came to the party simultaneously, “I hate Timmay’s choice of spells.” Obviously some greater being was watching this battle.

Bernedette called out to her magical friends. Thane, Erik, and Veridian also responded to the sounds of battle. Thane’s lantern was directed better.

Ulfgar waded into the battle his hammer striking left and then right as the pack tried to surge away. One of the trogs fell to the blows. They tried to flee back thru the door. A large lizard blocked most of the way. Bartol skirted the pool and moved closer. His lantern pointed at the ceiling. But with his vision he could still see most of the battle. The leader hummed again. Momentarily, Timmay and Bernedette got a little drowsy. Both recovered.

“You don’t know who you are messing with,” Timmay answered. Timmay turned his attention to the lizard. He tossed some sand up into the air. The lizard slumped over asleep. Ulfgar caved in its skull. Bernedette's call was answered by a glowing eagle. It dove into the pack. Bernedette turned her attention to the leader. She snapped a bone over her knee and fired a bolt of magic. It struck true. But the results were unclear. She assumed she had weakened him. But he didn't appear to be having trouble with the weight of his armor. The slower party members also closed the distance some more. Thane and Veridian would soon be in battle. Erik, well, some times heavy armor is more of a restriction than you know.

 

[diaglo]

Full speed ahead

The trog Chieftain stepped to the side, pulled out a vial, and downed it. He vanished from sight. The remainder of the pack was able to flee now that the lizard was dead. Ulfgar surged thru the door right behind them. Maybe not a good thing. The second wave of trogs inside had not been affected by Timmay's spell. They took turns thrusting at Ulfgar. One scored a deep wound. The priest took it stoically, but he couldn't take another like that. Ulfgar found the burned trog from the first encounter and laid him low. In an attempt to try and get the leader to reveal himself, Bartol ran past the spot he was last seen. Nothing happened. So Bartol continued thru the door. His lantern bounced from one side of the passage to the other. He briefly caught sight of a trog behind Ulfgar. He swung his sword out in front of him. It found flesh. Luckily it was higher up than that of a dwarf. The trog didn't survive the blow.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Bartol roared triumphantly.

Timmay also moved into the new passageway. He reached into his pouch and tossed some more sand into the air. Several of the trogs fell over sleeping. Bernedette's eagle dove into the fray. Bernedette tried a new tactic.

"Reveal all things magical to me," She scanned around the large chamber.

Thane stopped by the door. Veridian also tried to find the Chieftain. He put his ears and nose to work. Erik finally made it to the caller.

Of the trog tribe; the Chieftain vanished, 3 warriors slept, 2 battled Ulfgar, and another was still under Timmay's spell. One of the sleepers was injured as was the enthralled one. Ulfgar stepped back and prayed to Moradin for healing. The trogs attacked Bartol. One scraped his arm. Bartol attacked and slew the awake injured trog. Timmay pulled out his dagger, Dragontooth. He moved to the side of the injured sleeping large kobold, or at least to Timmay's way of thinking. He stabbed the creature’s hide. It stirred. Oops. Bernedette’s eagle continued to harass the combatants.

In the other chamber, Bernedette concentrated. She moved slightly forward.

“He’s somewhere over there,” she told Veridian. Veridian was already ahead of her. He stalked around trying to pinpoint the sounds. Thane summoned his orb of fire. It struck one of the trog’s near Bartol. He then pulled out his cudgel and continued to block the door. At least his lantern made things more visible. Erik threw up his hands and headed to the door.

“I hope the two of you can handle him,” Erik said to Bernedette as he left.

Ulfgar struck the burned the trog from behind. That left one standing and one now awake battling Timmay with 2 still sleeping. Timmay’s trog missed the gnome as he rose. The other took a stab at Ulfgar. Bartol went to Timmay’s rescue. He brought his sword in hard. Now there was only one still standing. Timmay eyed the other sleeping forms, but decided it was too risky with the last trog nearby. He went into a defensive stance as he tried to cast a spell. The trog couldn’t get in a stab. But it did shrug off the effects of the spell. Bernedette’s eagle took a parting dive and vanished. Bernedette lost the sense of magic.

“He’s gone from here,” she called out. She drew her longsword and joined the others. Veridian pursued a little further. He saw a form enter the water and swim away. Thane started to strip the hide from the lizard in the door. Erik approached the battle. He really needed to do something about his armor movement.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Re: The Lamest show on Oerth...Aber-Toril

Besides the stilts, Veridian had a third pole to poke in front of himself. Timmay got a strange idea. He mumbled a little under his breath. Suddenly a strange ghostly melody could be heard. Rumpp...bumppp....da...da..da..
da...Rump....pump....pa...

Bernedette took the cue and reached into her spell pouch. She began to juggle.

"Step right up ladies and gentlemen," Thane added.

Oh, now that's funny!

I was too busy running the encounter to really appreciate the humor in the situation. Now that I think back I can't keep a straight face!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Re: A taste of their own medicine

A random thought came to the party simultaneously, “I hate Timmay’s choice of spells.” Obviously some greater being was watching this battle.

It's not his spells I hate; it's the bloody high save DC's. And they're all Will saves!

 

[diaglo]

The tribe has spoken

Ulfgar threatened the last warrior. The creature threw down its weapon and backed into a side chamber. Inside 3 smaller, females hissed and guarded a dozen hatchlings. Bartol brought his sword down on the sleeping form of one of the trogs. SPPPlllattt. Blood and gore flew everywhere. (OoC: i did 32hp of damage and i wasn't even raging) Timmay moved into position and stabbed the other one. It stirred. Oops.

"Save one for me," Bernedette called out. She flanked it with Timmay. Veridian ran back to the group. Thane shook his head and joined the others around the trog. Erik entered the battle. He grazed the creature.

Ulfgar also moved around the trog. It looked around. One female human, one gnome, one heavily armored human, one heavily armored dwarf, and one half-drow (well not really, but that's what Thane looks like with the white hair), and an elf and half-elf nearby. It lunged at Bernedette with its claws and fangs. She screamed. Luckily her magic saved her from any harm. Unluckily for the creature he gained Bartol's attention. Bartol circled around the group and brought his Greatsword down. It split the creature from neck to navel (do trogs have a navel). The blood and gore covered the barbarian, druid, dwarf, and Erik. Timmay and Bernedette were able to jump aside. Everyone turned back to the remainder of the tribe.

"Wait," Veridian spoke in their defense. "We don't need to kill them."

"We usually," Thane replied, "don't like to leave enemies behind. They have a tendency to cause trouble later." Bartol, Timmay, and Erik agreed.

"Well perhaps we can use them to find the treasure or tell us of traps?" Veridian asked.

"Great," Bernedette surmised. "You don't want us to end their misery, but you want to use them to set off traps."

While the group argued, Bartol entered the side chamber. The last warrior tossed some coins at his feet. It also pointed to another doorway.

"Tribute," Timmay exclaimed. "Now that's more like it."

Veridian checked then opened the door. The Chieftain's chamber had a large chest. Again the rogue went thru a ritual of checking. He found a small hidden compartment. A ruby wrapped in green was uncovered. He opened the chest. More old silver coins. The party had almost more weight than they could carry. They left the tribe alone as they carted off the loot. But they didn't leave any weapons behind. Timmay suggested they carry everything to the fire trapped room. They were the only ones who knew it was not still loaded. They also headed back to the barracks and out the secret door to check on the animals. Thane and Timmay brought the pack inside. Ulfgar saw to Bartol's wounds. Bartol was the only one in the party injured.

"We need to recover spells," Bernedette mentioned.

"I've still got almost all of mine," Bartol added and smiled.

"Well you are the only one," Timmay remarked.

 

[diaglo]

Watching and waiting

Timmay, Bernedette, Erik, Thane, and Ulfgar rested first. Veridian and Bartol stayed on watch with the animals. Veridian secured the door and Bartol scattered his caltrops. They used Thane’s lantern as their sole light source. They needed to conserve their oil and torch supply. They had also refreshed their water skins.

“I’ll take second watch,” Veridian remarked, “also. I don’t need as much rest as the rest of you. I’ll wake Ulfgar and Erik for third watch.”

Bartol reluctantly agreed. He was starting to trust Veridian more. But still something made his senses tingle. Maybe it was just the spider he squashed crawling on his neck. Bartol’s mind went back over the images of the passages and chambers below. He carved them into a plank of wood near the lantern; something to leave for Alrissian, if he ever returned. During his watch, Bartol cleaned and checked his weapons and armor. He repaired a tear in the sole of his boot. And he used his whetstone on his blades. Veridian did the same.

“Where did the large trog go?” Bartol thought to himself. “Why did he sacrifice his tribe? And while we rest, so will he. What other magic might he have? Will the animals notice them before we do? And what of the dwarven community? We found their tombs, but where did they live? From what I know of dwarves, the caverns the trogs occupied were too chaotic. There must still be more to find.”

Veridian sat staring at Hoardmaster. The rapier was still strapped to Erik’s side.

 

[diaglo]

Update after tomorrow

Bernedette will not be adventuring tomorrow. She is taking some time to read her spellbook and wait for signs of Alrissian or Erland's thugs.

and as always we don't know if Erik will be coming either.

but we did a mad scramble for carpooling and Veridian is going to make it. and considering Ulfgar came with Veridian and Bernedette last time. i guess we aren't sure of his statis either.

so the known cast for tomorrow's act will be:

Veridian, Timmay, Bartol, and Thane

with high probability of Ulfgar and Erik.

and the stand ins for Bernedette and Alrissian won't be making an appearance.

and of course Pepto, Valgrim, and Marcus of Tyr are in support roles only now under the direction of Olgar Shiverstone.

 

[biorph]

wow...I'm definately in axious awaiting of this week's write up.

 

[diaglo]

If this be my last...

Bernedette bid her paramour good luck. She elected to stay behind. The party was concerned Erland's thugs might come in unannounced. And with Alrissian wandering about in the wilderness, they had no one to guard their rear. Bernedette therefore as usual volunteered to keep watch. She also wanted time alone to work on her spells and to think thru all that had happened to her. Maybe she just needed some time away from Bartol.

"If you love me, set me free," she begged. "If I don't come back it wasn't meant to be."

Bartol reluctantly agreed.

Timmay handed Smacks to Bernedette. The party left most of their things behind. They only took what was absolutely necessary. Thane bade his pack to stay and guard with Bernedette.

So after the normal morning ritual of prayers, meditation, and reading, the party set off for the lower cavern again.

Bartol was the last to leave. He kissed his lover and strode off not looking back.

The trek took 30 minutes of steady plodding. An occasional trickle of water grew to a steady stream. When the party crossed the stream again. They were back to the point of taking the plunge.

Veridian decided to check the off shoot further. He stripped off most of his gear. Bartol secured his grapnel and rope. Veridian tied himself to the rope.

"If this works like we expect," Veridian said. "I'll meet you around at the other side."

The rest of the party plunged ahead. Veridian slowly lost sight of the front party members as they took the light sources. He could just make out Timmay and Bartol.

"Shoot," he murmured. "I wish I had Thane's lantern."

A rock dropped in the stream.

 

[diaglo]

Vengence is mine...

Ulfgar was in the lead. He had just reached the bottom of the slope. Erik followed close behind; then Thane, Timmay, and Bartol.

"Guys," Veridian called from further back. "I just heard something."

Nearly everyone turned back to see what Veridian was saying.

ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRR

A large furry shape lumbered out of the darkness. It seized the dwarf. And pulled him close to its body. Ulfgar was alive, but just barely. Erik struck the bear. Thane followed with a ball of fiery magic. A series of javelins flew at the party. The bear pawed Erik. He also crushed Ulfgar closer to his body. Four trog warriors were below. One struck Timmay. Bartol raced to Erik's side. He swung hard and true. His Greatsword left a huge gash in the bear's torso. (crit 37hp damage and i wasn't even raging). The bear staggered and turned to flee.

Timmay grabbed his pouch. "You want a piece of me," the gnome called out. He tossed some sand into the air. Two trogs slept.

Erik took a wild swing at the bear. And Thane began to cast. He step behind Erik and touched him.

The bear dropped the unconscious dwarf and ran. Erik's blade caught the creature in the front paw. And Bartol's blade struck its hindquarters. It was dead before it hit the ground. The two remaining trogs launched javelins at Erik. Neither penetrated.

"I willss hasss my revengess," a voice hissed in Common.

Three bright firey bolts fired out of the night and struck Timmay. The trog Chieftain was visible nearby.

Bartol vaulted over the bear's corpse and attacked a trog before it could attack Ulfgar.

"Ronald McTrog," Timmay smirked. "I see you." Timmay began to cast a net of shadowy magic.

Another form materialized and struck Timmay down with a very large club. A larger trog stood over the fallen gnome.