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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 5411451" data-attributes="member: 16069">HS1 The Slaying StoneSession 4 Part 2The PCs clear the area- all the bodies are ferried downstairs and dumped into the mud, the place looks- clean-ish, the best they can do in the circumstances.Rogar and Maldor head out of the Library, and after a false start, manage to climb onto the roof of the the building, it has been snowing while they've been downstairs dealing in death and destruction. The eagle-eyed pair look for tracks in the snow- they spot a few but mainly on the main thoroughfare, a good way from their position. Several areas & buildings however look to be inhabited (smoking chimneys and fires)- principally the Inn of the Tallest Fir, the Kiris Dahn Mansion, the Stables, the Kobold Slum and the City Gate... but not the Temples, which is the PCs next port of call.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40504969@N08/5283697279/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5283697279_f00c8b1164.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>Gorizbadd, in all its glory, is revealed.Spying done the PCs do some quick thinking, find suitable bits of branches and bushes, hot-foot it through the snow to the first temple, with Rogar and Maldor following behind using the branches etc. to attempt to mask their trail. They're surprisingly successful, '19' & '20'.The adventurers arrive at the Temple of Pelor, formerly a beautiful edifice with a glass ceiling now a damp and mouldering ruin.Creeping inside the huge place they find a number of dead Kobolds, and very soon after some Stirges and Scurrying Rat Swarms.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40504969@N08/5284295810/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5284295810_4789a59852.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>Vermin in the Temple of Light, and some Rats and Stirges.And it just goes to show, a simple encounter designed as nothing more than a quick and dirty fight, and the PCs start to roll low- not too low however. While the fight is fairly easy Rogar is missing, and making use of his Action Point. Neb is missing, Resolute is missing and this is before all of the Scurrying Rat Swarms have arrived, as Maldor said on chat-'Ooooooh... the second swarm... now we're scared!'Rogar spent a short time in Fallcrest working as a Rat-Catcher (bit of a misnomer- Rat-Killer would be more accurate), he doesn't like Rats and is roleplaying well.The upside (for the PCs) of this is the Stirges, even with Combat Advantage only land one hit, the Rats are a little more successful, Drake is very quickly Bloodied and has to spend an Action Point to get away from the hurt.Then normal service is resumed and the PCs start hitting, although Action Points are having still to be spent- the Rats survive a while longer, do a speck more damage, but are eventually destroyed, Jebediah delivering the final Sword Burst.The encounter proved harder than the previous, oh the joy of actually connecting with the PCs...A simple Level 1 Encounter with 3 Stirges (Level 1 Lurkers) & 3 Scurrying Rat Swarms (Level 1 Skirmishers), proving even these guys can be dangerous when the dice are on your side- four Action Points got spent defeating them.Some notes-- I thought this one would be a push over for the PCs, sure three swarms but... I tried to keep getting the swarms into the centre of the PCs to keep the Aura damage going on.- The dice loved me for a short time, and with the PCs missing so much, and in particular with their Burst and Blast attacks, it looked good for a while, they were struggling.- Then they started hitting of course, and particularly with their Busts and Blasts.The PCs clear up the mess and check the Temple out, the Kobold bodies have been gnawed and bled by the vermin, however they seem to have been killed by hefty weapons- large spears and hammers, the PCs reason that the killers were probably not Goblins, unless there are some bigger Goblins about- Hobgoblins and Bugbears maybe.More to the mystery- the PCs initial thoughts were that somewhere in Gorizbadd is another band of adventurers seeking the Slaying Stone...Maldor also locates a Stirge nest, and decides that he wants to take two of the leathery eggs he finds inside, storing them in the velvet-lined box the PCs found, which formerly held the Slaying Stone.Job done, and after a little light praying by Drake (the Pacifist Priest of Pelor remember) the guys make ready for the short dash to the next temple...Next time- Kiris... that name sounds familiar.</blockquote>

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