Prison of Manzessine

[diaglo]

if you read the last page in the story hour in my sig... you'll see the party is currently trapped in Maerimydra.

the city is occupied by a large Army of Goblinoids and Giants looting and having fun.

also a new goddess has sway over the drow. The Revenator... aka.. the undead lesser deity Kiaransalee. her troops are holed up in a Castle in the South of the City besieged by the Giant's army. and they have a major artifact they intend to use to unleash the undead on the world... both above and below ground.

with all the dead bodies currently in the city ...this is a frightening proposition.

long story short the reason we came below is to help our gnome sorcerer concoct a potion to help his "Auntie" become mortal. it requires us to expose the blood of a true dragon to the powers of the Underdark...the faerzress for 1 week.

but the faerzress has been corrupted by what the undead goddess has done.

and we ran into a prophecy by a mad deep gnome...which sounds too much like the party members.


so far we are laying low in one of the ruined estates in the city.


now for the question(s): should we seek to fulfill the prophecy so that we are sure the potion works correctly? or should we just stay "Hidden" long enough to get the job done.... and then find a way out?

current party:

Fiddle "Dragonslayer" Skipstone roughly 7th lvl ranger/ 4th lvl rogue hin Dire Packrat companion
Alya Silverleaf 8th lvl bard/ 3rd lvl Arcane Archer deep halfling
Ozlo Sullygrub 11th lvl sorcerer gnome fox familiar
Vlad Greycloak 4th lvl fighter/ 7th lvl rogue human
Darian Dawnguard 2nd lvl fighter/ 6th lvl cleric/ 3rd lvl Morninglord of Lathander human

and a PC to be announced.. currently looks like: Fextore Stoneblood Ranger 1/ Fighter 4/ Monk 2/ Justicar 4 dwarf with manacles.

 

[BlackMoria]

Let me get this straight. You are in Maerimydra solely because 'Auntie' needs a potion to be mortal. This region of Faerun is going to hell in a hand basket and 'Auntie' needs a potion?

If it was me in your party, I would be telling the gnome that 'Auntie' can get her own damn potion. Also, due to the corruption of the faerzress, you absolutely have no assurances that the potion is going to be 'pure and true' to it intent. It is a very good bet that the corrupted faerzress will 'taint' the potion.

Personally, I think your original mission is pooched but since I don't know all the details, I may be wrong. Its time for the party to start looking to protecting their collective arses.

And this prophecy thing.... a mad deep gnome gibbers something and everyone thinks it is a prophecy.....

Hasn't anyone told you that prophecies usually are bad things. There tends to be hardship, very bad things happening and screaming to boot

Just like the *say 'no' to drugs*, just say NO to prophecies.

 

[diaglo]

Let me get this straight. You are in Maerimydra solely because 'Auntie' needs a potion to be mortal. This region of Faerun is going to hell in a hand basket and 'Auntie' needs a potion?

well.... we went to the Banewarrens to help Darian complete a quest for his church.. recover the Sword of Truth/Light/ Lies/ whatever... and now we are helping another party member finish a personal quest.

we tried helping the region and even got involved in the politics... but only Randal Morn listened to us say it was the drow involved... the rest of the council voted to fight the Zhents....

so we are sorta on a mission for Randal Morn too... he paid us a little for more info..

It is a very good bet that the corrupted faerzress will 'taint' the potion.

that is our collective guess also.

And this prophecy thing.... a mad deep gnome gibbers something and everyone thinks it is a prophecy.....

Hasn't anyone told you that prophecies usually are bad things. There tends to be hardship, very bad things happening and screaming to boot

Just like the *say 'no' to drugs*, just say NO to prophecies.

yeah, we didn't really take it all to seriously... but it is there.... and we are sorta also on a mission for the deep gnomes.... the drow sacked their city... so the refugees are hanging out in a safe place until we can find them another place to live and provide them with some food....

i forgot to mention the NPC in our Party is from the deep gnome community

Grishelm,.. can't guess what he is... other than some kind of Underdark ranger with the twf style using kukris. he has a riding lizard as an animal companion. roughly i'd say ... 6th lvl ranger/ 3rd lvl knifefighter or somesuch.

 

[howandwhy99]

Noticed this thread from our messageboard. I don't have a plan for the City nor allegiances either. As an ex-slave Dextor will likely either choose escape and a little payback or tough it out and take down the Giant King.

I imagine it depends more on his impressions of the group.

 

[JoeBlank]

This group is very good about staying in character. While I certianly know that the situation is not good, and retreating to a safe location and teleporting out makes sense, my gnome sorcerer has been working all his adventuring life towards getting this potion for his Auntie. I think he will probably get the job done or die trying.

Luckily, he just hit 11th level and is able to pick some spells that help our present situation, such as Mass Darkvision and Seeming.

 

[diaglo]

just a side note for those not intimate with CotSQ.

the adventure is 2000ed... so the DM has had to upgrade/fix many of the encounters.

and it is made for 4 10th lvl characters at the start and is supposed to progress them to lvl 18 by the finish.

technically we are in way over our heads. as 5 possibly 6 11th PCs this far into the adventure would normally get their arses handed to them if we were trying to accomplish the real goal of the adventure....

our biggest and only cleric is Caster Level/Turning Level = to 9th.

our biggest arcane boom guy is just 11th lvl as a sorc... so his top spells are level 5.

the bard and the ranger have some spells...

but as you can see most are not front line fighters.... nor are we really able to see much/ remain sneaky without using light....

 

[diaglo]

if you are curious about motivation. i can only give you my character's perspective.

Fiddle "Dragonslayer" Skipstone is there for the adventure. To slay a dragon or two. and to keep his friends whole along the journey.

i was offered the chance to join the Temple Raiders of Brandobaris... so in a side project i am also always on the lookout for holy items to bring to them... The Black Grail mentioned in the prophecy would fill this quite nicely. but Darian, the Morninglord of Lathander, definitely has other plans for it. Darian has also taken other items from the group to destroy in his church.

[other note] We played the Banewarrens and the Black Grail was an object sought by the Quaan, an organization of monsters, for some purpose we never figured out... but our guess is they plan to use it to return Moander to Life[/other note] (i own the BoEM and the Complete Book of Eldritch Might... and (the player) knows this isn't the listed power of the Grail)

 

[diaglo]

looks like things are gonna get even stickier for the group.

Darian's player finally confirmed he won't be able to game with us.

so scratch the Cleric/Morninglord of Lathander...

and we still need to find/meet/rescue the replacement PC for another player whose 1/2elf Ranger was slain last session... the dwarf justicar.

this now means against the drow and their undead minions we are vulnerable... toast probably.

and without the justicar the giant's army is too much for us also.

looks like i'm going to suggest the party run home to Randal Morn and tell him all they have found out and wait for everything to blow over... and then kill another dragon and start the process all over again... the better part of valor is to tuck tail and run.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

You're letting OOC player knowledge get in the way of your charcter's thinking. What does the level the published adventure is designed for, or the powers some magic item published in the BoEM -- all of which the DM may have changed, modified, or adjusted -- have to do with the situation you're in?

Characters don't have a list of monster CRs to compare to the "level reading" emanating from the cleric.

Based on the experiences so far, is the party over their heads? Based on experiences so far and character motivations, what would the party try to accomplish?

This sort of thinking:

the adventure is 2000ed... so the DM has had to upgrade/fix many of the encounters.

and it is made for 4 10th lvl characters at the start and is supposed to progress them to lvl 18 by the finish.

technically we are in way over our heads. as 5 possibly 6 11th PCs this far into the adventure would normally get their arses handed to them if we were trying to accomplish the real goal of the adventure....

our biggest and only cleric is Caster Level/Turning Level = to 9th.

our biggest arcane boom guy is just 11th lvl as a sorc... so his top spells are level 5.

is just going to spoil your enjoyment of the adventure.

Real Heroes never calculate the odds.

 

[diaglo]

You're letting OOC player knowledge get in the way of your charcter's thinking. What does the level the published adventure is designed for, or the powers some magic item published in the BoEM -- all of which the DM may have changed, modified, or adjusted -- have to do with the situation you're in?

i think you know me better than that. i put this on the question for those reading the thread.. not for us.

Based on the experiences so far, is the party over their heads? Based on experiences so far and character motivations, what would the party try to accomplish?

yes... an army of goblins, ogres, and giants.. plus that weird looking gray giant sized thingie...and still the threat of all of the dead bodies coming back to life...

to quote Darian, "LICHESSSS"

we are in way over our heads. my character doesn't know magic... has placed his dragonblood potion in the ruins and is ready to get outta Dodge.

i'm just reacting to what Sully told us about the necro effects on the Faerzress.

edit: besides we still owe Randal Morn for the Bag of Goodies and the Smurfs for the food/shelter