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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1230948" data-attributes="member: 8530">Thank you for some kind words.   Other readers should feel free to comment as well.  And yes, most of the group appears to be enjoying the module.   Now in answer to your questions:1) Yes, our group has now been together for a long, long time, and each of us has from five to nine different characters who we alternate playing.   An “Early Years” story hour with the group’s first two-dozen modules (including “Keep on the Borderlands”) is posted on the Dragonsfoot message board at the following link:<a href="http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1481" target="_blank">http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1481</a>2) That hasn’t been a problem yet, as the highest-level character in the group is 13th, and she works fine alongside the 8th to 10th levels.  3) Mark’s player is usually rather quiet, but during this module he has been close to comatose.   The player is away on a trip for the next two weeks so the character will probably be more actively played by the group as an NPC.  The Story Hour is a pretty accurate reflection of the games, as I make it a point to jot down all of the best lines and I also try to log each game when it is still fresh on my mind.  I’ll often paraphrase some of the dialogue rather than stating it verbatim.  4) We have a second campaign (low to mid level) that we play a few times a year, where most of the modules have come from Dungeon Magazine.   Last year I ran “Gnome on the Range” from Dungeon #85.  I’ll also steal bits and pieces from various Dungeon Magazines to toss into other modules, as I did this time with the group of Githyanki. 5)  Oops, I must have initially read it wrong.  I’ll correct it.     Now for the next next chapter:    Chapter 20, “Holding the High Ground” September 13th, 1019, 5:15 P.M. The gnoll fighters approach along the Kadtanach’s neck in pairs tied together by a short rope, with a long rope extending back connecting each of the pairs.   Grelmak moves out of the way for Narg and Cassie to take up a position by the center window, as Mark and Mojo un-shutter and open the windows on either side.    Purge heads down below to move the battering ram over to block the door and then climbs back up. Narg lights one of two glass bottles of oil (Molotov Cocktails) and tosses it down.  It breaks against the Kadtanach’s neck, with the flaming splatter hitting several gnolls, but none actually catch fire.  Mojo suggests that they wait a few minutes until all pairs of gnoll fighters are out of the building and onto the neck, saying, “We knock off the ones in the middle and they’ll pull the rest down after them.”   This delaying tactic proves to be a mistake, as the first pair soon reaches the Head Howdah and is able to secure that end of the rope, allowing the other gnolls to then move across faster.  The attack is launched, with Mojo striking one in the center with his hammer, knocking the gnoll unconscious and off of the neck.  It pulls the one it is tied to down with it.   The pairs in front and behind fall down and grip onto the Kadtanach’s scales to keep from falling.   Mark fires a few arrows into these gnolls, for a minimum of damage.   Cassie notices that the rope is now anchored at both ends, and decides to change that, sending a Magic Missile spell down with three missiles hitting the rope before the pair hanging over and her final two missiles striking the next two holding them down.   The rope snaps, causing the two dangling ones to fall and separating the first eight gnolls from final eight behind them.  The first pair of gnolls along the Head Howdah start to pull the six they are tied to towards them.  They manage to get the four over, but the last two are then struck by Mojo’s Hammer and Mark’s arrows, and fall off.   One is dangling either unconscious or dead and his companion is wounded.  The first six decide to just leave them, and head around to the front door.   Narg moves away from the window and watches through the opening into the room below in anticipation of the arrival of these gnolls.Mojo, Mark and Cassie continue to strike at the remaining group of gnolls.  A few more slip, but some fall off the opposite direction, creating a counterweight of dangling gnolls.     The gnoll forces already on the head manage to bust through the door, and Narg enthusiastically yells out “They’re here!” as he jumps through the opening.   He successfully lands on his feet below, taking a minimum damage to his ankles from the fall, and charging the lead gnoll.    Both Mark and Mojo break away from the windows to go help Narg. Narg slashes his sword left and right, striking the gnolls as they rush through the doorway.   He notices that there are now a total of nine gnoll attackers, but does not stop to consider where the other three have come from.    Mark is climbing down the ladder, when Mojo impatiently swings around to the back of the ladder and slides down the side rails to get to the bottom first.Narg has dropped two foes and taken one hit by the time Mojo is able to join him.  They each manage to drop another by the time that Mark finally joins them.    Mark gets struck once, but then slays his foe and pivots onto the sixth and final one through the door.   The three outside see the carnage and the relatively unscathed elvan fighters, and decide to run away.   Narg charges after them as Mark and Mojo drop the last one inside the building.     Cassie has managed to use another Magic Missile spell to break the rope and drop the two gnolls acting as a counterweight.  The sudden shift in weight on the rope causes the remaining gnolls to be pulled over the side, with a group of six now dangling together ten to twenty feet below the front of the Yoke Howdah.   Grelmak comments to her “Aren’t you going to finish them off?”  She replies, “Why waste the spell.  Those six aren’t going anywhere.”  She then sends her owl Deanna out to use its claws to sever the rope.   Meanwhile, Alton has reached the top of the yoke and starts to climb down the other side, also deciding to go cut the rope with the dangling gnolls. Mojo and Mark charge out the door after Narg.    The three gnolls have run to the window at the top of the remaining ear basket, and the first one dives through the opening.   Narg catches up to the next one as it is attempting to climb in, and grabs the gnoll.  Mojo tosses his hammer into the third, sending the gnoll flying off of the Kadtanach’s head.  Mark and Narg toss the other one over the side.   Narg sticks his head inside the basket window as Mojo now notices that the one remaining gnoll that hand been dangling from the severed rope on the Head Howdah has now climbed up.   Mojo’s hammer has now returned to his hand, and he tosses the hammer into the gnoll for a fatal blow.  Narg sees a giant spider inside the howdah moving towards him.  He lights his second bottle of oil and drops it down onto the beast and the layers of webs.   The webs and spider catch and the ear basket erupt in flames.  Mojo comes back to join Narg as the two of them now see a rope unfurl from the bottom of the flaming basket and the remaining gnoll starts to slide down it.   Mojo tosses his hammer, which wounds the gnoll, but he continues to slide down until he reaches the ground.   Narg recognizes this gnoll as the same one who had escaped from the crow’s nest earlier and comments “A survivor.  I guess he earned it.”    They then watch as the other dangling six gnolls fall to the ground, Cassie’s owl having finally sheared the rope.   Narg, Mark and Mojo then become the targets of a new group of gnoll archers that have taken up position on the catapult ramp.  They decide to head back inside and out of the line of fire.   Alton reaches the rope too late to cut it, but having seen some of his companions over on the creature’s head decide to scurry across the neck to join them.  Grelmak has also seen this new group of foes, and then yells out “There’s a human female with them!”   Purge comments, “The wizardess we were told of.”    Cassie moves into position by the window and lets loose with a 12-hit die Fireball from her crown of might.”   The DM informs the players that as soon as Cassie’s face appeared in the window the Wizardess let loose with a 13-hit dice Fireball of her own, and which ever mage hit first would have prevented the other from casting her spell.   The DM and player both roll a d10 to see which fireball hits first, both rolling an eight, indicating simultaneous explosions at both locations.   Cassie, however, does far better with the damage roll, indicating 62 points to the DM’s 35 points.   The catapult ramp is destroyed along with everyone and everything on it.    Alton sees this destruction above him and causally comments “Ah, Cassie.”   Back in the Head Howdah, Cassie finds that she is rather wounded but still alive, and she is very thankful that Deanna was outside of the room when the fireball hit.   She casts a Cure Serious Wounds spell onto herself and calls her familiar back.   Looking around the room she sees that both Purge and Grelmak lie unmoving, and she goes over to check them out.   Grelmak is dead and Purge is near death.  She casts a Cure Serious Wounds spell onto him and then lowers him into the Bag of Holding, instructing the druid Nahmi to assist him.   She strips Grelmak’s body of his magic items, finding that all except for his spell book survived the explosion.    Cassie climbs below to her companions, leaving Grelmak’s body behind.   Mark, Mojo and Narg were all slightly scorched by the pillar of flame that shot out from the opening above them.   She informs them that Grelmak died and that Purge was badly injured, as well as the fact that the enemy wizardess and her companions were destroyed.    They then notice the Kadtanach start to move again.    Looking out the doorway, they now see the town of Gheldaylin some six to seven miles ahead, and conclude that they will reach it by nightfall in another hour or two. “Hi Guys,” Alton’s voice calls out from the doorway, adding “I kinda got kicked off and had to catch up with you guys.  Sorry it took so long.”    Cassie gives him a quick recap of what happened.  He says “You look awful,” and then casts a Cure Serious Wounds spell onto her, bringing her back up close to maximum.    Everyone is then violently shaken to the side, as the Kadtanach tilts his head to scrape the burning ear-basket off from its head, as the flames are now bothering its ear.   The basket soon cracks and falls to the ground.    Alton comments, “So, the even while under control this creature seems to have some basic survival instincts.”    Mark points to the fact that the fireball caught fire to the bedding and supplies in the room above them, which they haven’t put out yet.   Cassie says, “Well, if we put it out now the smoke will signal the enemy that we are still alive.”  Narg points out that the wood is very thick and will probably take a while to catch.  He adds, “Let’s just leave it burning.”   Alton feels guilty doing that since the fire could harm the creature.  Cassie says “Don’t worry.  It will just react the same way as it did with the ear, and will make for a really good distraction.”   “Killing us in the process,” Mark adds.   Cassie points out that it has now been over twenty-four hours since she used the Helm of Teleportation, which she could use to get everyone out fast in an emergency.  Mark points out that standing around in the first floor of a building whose second floor is on fire is really not a wise thing to do.   Cassie takes out the Bag of Holding that she took from Grelmak.  It is too small to transport people in, but she uses it to transfer their remaining supplies from the party’s second bag.   They then decide to have Cassie, Deanna, Mark, Mojo and Narg get into this second bag and have Alton move them elsewhere.   Alton picks up all of the bags and then reapplies the invisibility, making the bags invisible too.   He comments, “Just call me Alton ‘three bags’ Wadsworth.”</blockquote>

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