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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1192425" data-attributes="member: 8530">Yeah, isn't it great how much one bad dice roll can screw up a good plan!  Here's the next chapter, with the PCs version of the above chapter and what then followed at a week ago's game.   I should have the chapters for last night's game up shortly.Chapter 11, “To Hell in a Handbasket”, September 13th, 1019, 11:00 A.M.Mark’s thunderous crash onto the prison level floor had put the party on the defensive, with a muscular gnoll fighter now climbing down towards them.  Cassie’s immediate reaction was to toss a Silence spell up into the chamber above, and then to recast the Mass Invisibility spell onto herself and her companions.   Casting this on the fighters proved to be a waste of time, as they immediately engage in combat against the gnolls, but it continues to provide protection to both herself and Purge.The gnoll fighter only climbs a few feet down the ladder and then moves onto the cage’s roof, nearly twenty feet above the floor, to use that as a base to fire from.   Two more gnoll archers arrive above to fire arrows down at them.   Narg uses the Rope of Climbing to disarm one of them.   Cassie notices a secret door in the floor, telling the others, but they are all too preoccupied to deal with it.  Purge began working on the lock to the cage while Cassie sent her owl Deanna to try to empty the quiver of the gnoll atop the cage.   She has the owl stop when she saw notices the human male prisoner pick up a bucket full of waste and fling the contents up towards the gnoll.   The gnoll gets drenched, and the owl then manages to fly in and grab most of his remaining arrows.  Narg uses his Rope again, this time snatching onto the other gnoll, who he pulls down into the chamber.  Purge jumps aside to avoid being hit by the falling monster, which bangs against the cage and then lands dead on the floor.    Since Purge had still been invisible and standing where the gnoll fell, the party is concerned that the monster might have fallen on him.  He states, “I’m alright, I moved.”  He then returns to picking the lock.    Meanwhile, Mojo tosses his hammer up into the gnoll on the cage, knocking the monster back.   Purge announces that he is unable to get the cage unlocked.  Cassie asks the prisoners “Do you know who has the key?”    The female human prisoner replies, “The leader, and he’s not one of these two”, gesturing to the two fallen gnoll bodies.    “Fine, I’ll do it myself,” Mojo comments, and tossed his Hammer of Throwing into the lock.      Three more gnoll archers now arrive above, and the room below soon begins to resemble a ‘turkey shoot’, with nearly every arrow finding its target against Mark, Mojo or Narg.   Fortunately, all three fighters have rather powerful magical armor which deflects most of these arrows, but a few still impact for some damage.   Mojo’s hammer’s throw is unsuccessful at breaking the lock to the cage.   Narg declares, “This has turned into hell in a handbasket.”   Narg scoops up his shield and starts climbing the ladder, holding the shield above his head to deflect the oncoming arrows.   The gnoll lying on the cage top begins to move, and Mark finishes him off with an arrow.   Mojo moves over to the lock, and uses his full strength to hit it with the hammer, this time breaking the mechanism.   Mojo then begins to climb up the ladder to assist Narg.    Purge pushes the door to the cell open.   The still invisible Cassie tells the prisoners, “I’m holding an invisible Bag of Holding.   Get inside if you want to escape.”   The two humans quickly hurry inside, although the gnoll is reluctant to do so.”  Narg is now getting close to the opening in the ceiling, and suggests to Mojo “Clear the opening.”  Mojo leans back on the ladder, tossing the magical hammer up it.  This knocks back one archer and also causes his two companions to momentarily move back as well, giving Narg enough time to push his way through.   Narg swings his sword into the closest gnoll.   Mojo reactivates his Ring of Invisibility and follows Narg into the room.  Mojo moves behind the non-wounded gnoll and bludgeons him.   Narg now moves in towards the one who Mojo previously hit with the hammer.   The fighters are still within the area of the Silence spell, so are unable to hear the sound of bells now chiming from all directions.    Below, Cassie and Purge hear these through the walls and ask the gnoll prisoner what the sounds are.   He tells them that a general alert has been sounded and that all troops will be going to their battle stations  “What exactly does that mean?” Cassie asks.  He replies, “It means that more gnoll troops will be coming here.”   Cassie commands him, “Get into the bag.  This is your only chance to escape, so I would suggest that you take it.”   As he is climbing in Cassie tells Mark, “You’d better get in too.  I don’t trust him.”   With both Narg and Mojo fighting up above, Cassie and Purge decide to not use the door in this room to exit, and instead hurry up the ladder.   They arrive to see Narg and Mojo standing by a number of gnoll bodies.    She cancels the Silence spell, with the sound of the alarm bells now reverberating through the room.  Cassie tells the fighters “Reinforcements are on their way here.  Get into the bag.”   Mojo begins to climb in as they hear the sounds of several sets of feet now up in the crow’s nest.    Narg is about halfway into the bag when the ceiling trapdoor opens and a large gnoll in heavy armor starts climbing downward.   This gnoll soon reaches the room, with four more gnolls climbing down the ladder right after him.  Two of these gnolls stop at this level and the other two continue downward to the lower level.   The still invisible Cassie and Purge move back to the wall and the window at two O’clock.   The larger gnoll yells out in the gnoll language “They are magically hidden, find them.”  The gnolls begin swinging their swords around as Cassie climb and Purge quietly climb up onto the windowsill.  Purge loops an invisible rope around the window ledge, and Cassie climbs onto his back.  The two of them start to slide down the rope.   The rope is dangling beside another of the cylindrical-shaped buildings, this one being twenty-feet in diameter and fifty-feet in height.   The building has no visible doors or window on it, and Purge examines where to grab onto it.   The giant monster that they are all riding on then shifts sharply to one side, and Purge surprisingly looses his grip on the rope.   Under normal circumstances Purge would have been able to use his monk skills to stop his descent, but with Cassie clinging onto his back he cannot, only being able to slow a bit of their momentum.  They fall to the base of the building and start to roll down the side of the creature.  Purge twists to one side, rolling them towards and into one of the giant leather harness straps used to secure the nearest building to the creature.  At the speed they were falling at they become lodged between the strap and the monster.   They are both a bit shaken up but with a minimum of damage from this fall.  They decide to crawl up higher along the strap, to keep from being crushed between the strap and the beast when it moves.  They then lie back along one of the creature’s scales, using the strap as a brace.  Purge suggests that they climb a bit higher, using the strap for support, until they are alongside the nearest building.  They do this, finding a flatter area where they then wedge themselves along the strap at a buttress where the building sits along the creature. Meanwhile, inside the rather crowded Bag of Holding, Narg had started talking to the rescued gnoll prisoner, saying “Okay Fido, spill it.  What exactly is this place?”   The gnoll gestures to the interior of the Bag of Holding and replies, “I don’t know what this place is.”  Narg says,  “No, I mean what is this creature with the gnoll city atop it?”Given that Narg is in gnoll form, and speaking to him in the gnoll language, the prisoner is cooperative with him.   The gnoll explains that this is the personal transport of Yeenoghu, the Greater Demon Lord and sacred deity of the gnoll race.   “Who exactly is in charge here?”  The gnoll replies, “Yeenoghu is.”   Assuming that the gnoll is speaking figuratively about his deity, rather than literally, Narg says, “No, I mean who else is running this show other than the gnolls?”The gnoll replies, “Yeenoghu is assisted by a human woman called Sylkess.   They do not treat my master very well.”  “His Master?” Mojo comments.  “Who and what is your Master?” Narg asks.   The gnoll tells Narg, “My Master is of our race.  He and I have respect for Yeenoghu, as the founder of our race, but we do not worship him.  We are followers of the gods of nature.”  Narg exclaims, “Druids!  Why can’t I ever get away from Druids!”   Mojo interjects, “What does your Master do here?”  The gnoll replies, “He casts spells behind the creature, to conceal the path the creature took and prevent any pursuit.”  Mojo comments “Must be pretty high in level to hide a path that wide.”  Narg comments, “Yeah.  Why can’t our druids ever do anything that useful?”  Mojo asks, “So, why were you in the jail cell?”   Before he can answer Narg states, “Either to force his Master to obey or as punishment for some misdeed.”  “Both”, the gnoll replies.</blockquote>

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