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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 535666" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chinese Take-out[Author's Note: OK READERS, After a rather long but interesting build-up, we're now into the action part of the module - enjoy!]Chapter 61, “Hi Morgarth, We were in the neighborhood so decided to drop by!”, September 27, 1018, 8:00 P.M. The group is in the storage room on the third floor of the rear tower discussing the information about the castle and its occupants that has been provided to them by Barthrock, who Lono keeps referring to as Bath-Rug.   A variety of different options and plans are discussed.  Narg suggests hitting Morgarth, and then making a quick exit.  Cassie strongly objects, pointing out the obligation they now have to save Li-Tak’s daughters.  This leads to a heated debate, with Narg stating that they never agreed to do that.  Cassie points out that Li-Tak left the castle map for them in return for the daughter’s rescue, and it would be wrong to have used the map and not followed through on the rescue.   Fiona points out that killing Morgarth, and leaving the daughters to Roger and his minions would also be wrong.  Mojo raises a different objection, saying that if they rescue these beautiful girls their ship’s crew shouldn’t have them all, that the party should get some too.  Cassie points out that the crew will become the girls’ “faithful husbands” and asks Mojo is he is ready and willing to permanently settle down.  He declines to answer.They discuss that whatever strategy is chosen they will need to get the party quickly out of the Bags of Holding.   It is suggested, “we need to find a Ziplock Bag of Holding”.   Narg insists that he be the first out, stating “I’m not known for my patience”.   Eventually the conversation around the table degenerates into a discussion of the role of stuffed bears in porn.  Lono’s player points out that, strictly speaking, that would be considered ‘soft porn’.   The Silver Moon’s debate continues until nearly two hours have passed since Barthrock left.  Narg decides they need to go now while Morgarth is still away from his devil bodyguard.   Fiona points out that they are probably too late for that, and another heated argument follows, with the party trying to convince Narg that he needs to make the devil his primary target rather than Morgarth.  Lannon is loaned the Ring of Invisibility and the others get into the bags of holding,.  Lannon heads down the tower.   Rather than reentering the castle itself, he exits the tower from the rear door, and travels along the outside of the castle up to Morgarth’s tower, sooon reaching the top.  He finds that unlike, the other tower, the windows here are all shut and shuttered with gigantic wooden shutters that are too heavy for him to move.   He cannot find another way in.The frustrated dwarf descends to a spot on the library roof,  where the two nearest towers block the view from the bugbear guards atop the outer wall, and lets the party out of the bag.  Narg is very disappointed to find himself atop a cold damp roof rather than inside of the tower.  Narg suggests that they head up the outside of the tower and kick the shutters in, but it is pointed out that that would ruin any element of surprise.  Eventually they decide to return to the rear tower, and travel inside of the building along the route that they know.  They reluctantly get back into the bags and Lannon spends the next half hour getting them to the hallway outside of the library.The library door is easily unlocked by Lannon.  He enters and lets everybody out of the Bags of Holding except for Lono and Hiroshi.  Cassie is amazed by the quantity of books, with all four hundred feet of the walls within this vast room filled with bookcases that extend from the floor to the ceiling thirty feet above.   The party pulls her along to the spiral staircase leading to Morgarth’s tower, past five desks in the room and the dome covered book on a pedestal on the opposite wall.   The next level of the tower is a large room furnished as a living chamber.   A huge ornate mirror is mounted on one of the walls, which the party concludes is where Morgarth casts his viewing spells from.   The party ascends to the next level, which is a laboratory.  Cassie wants to spend time in this room, but is discouraged by the other party members.   The spiral staircase in this room goes up to the ceiling, ending in a field of magical darkness.    As this tower is designed identical to the rear tower they conclude that there is only one more level above, which is where Morgarth would be. The party climbs the stairs, deciding that Narg should enter the room first.    To dispel the darkness he is handed several coins with Continual Light spells cast on them, as well as a coin with a Silence spell cast on it.   Climbing to just below the darkness area, he tosses the coins upward.  The stones immediately bounce back and fall back to the laboratory room below.  Some of the party briefly saw wood where the coins struck, before the darkness reappeared.  Only then do they realize that since this tower is identical to the other, there would also be an identical ten-foot square trap door between the fourth and fifth levels.  A player comments to the DM “I can’t believe you were able to keep a straight face during all that.”  Cassie’s owl familiar Deanna flies down to retrieve the coins, as the group ponders how to get the door open.  The Darkness is dispelled, with the group seeing that the large bolts to the door on this side are currently unbolted.   They assume that it is also bolted on the other side.  They decide that Cassie should use a Reduce spell on the door.   Narg and Lannon take up positions on the ladder immediatley below the door, followed by Cassie and Mojo.   She has Deanna fly keep a distance with the Silence coin, instructing the familiar to fly the coin to Lannon one the Spells verbal component is completed, to hopefully buffer the sounds of the reducing door. The spell is cast and the massive wooden door reduces in size to a sixteen-inch square, and only one-and-a-half inches thick (about the size of a pizza box).  The three massive metal hinges holding the door in place did not reduce, and the door is ripped apart by these hinges as it reduces, with the remaining piece dangling from a singe hinge.  Narg charges into the room, followed by Lannon and Mojo.  Even with the Silence covering the sound, the sight of the reducing door was definitely noticed by Notrathar, the devil bodyguard.  The devil is barely out of the range of the Silence and casts a Hold Person spell on the three of them, with only Mojo being caught by the spell.As Narg closes the distance between him and Notrathar, Lannon sees that Morgarth is now awake and sitting up in his bed.  Lannon tosses the coins, the Light spells now fully illuminating the side of the room where Morgarth is.   Unfortunately for Lannon, his toss of the Silence coin is actually too accurate, striking Morgarth in the face.  Since the arch-mage has a Stoneskin spell cast on himself, the coin does no damage and bounces off as if it had struck a stone wall.  The coin rolls on the floor a full eighteen feet away from Morgarth, moving the Silence out of range [DM’s note: I got very lucky on the dice roll for the distance of the coin roll].Lannon moves a few steps closer as Cassie move up into the room.  Morgarth casts a Major Globe of Invulnerability spell onto himself.    Narg has reached the devil, and swings the Nargblade.  His dice roll comes up with a natural “20”, which means a severing blow from the Sword of Sharpness.  He then grabs the six-sided, saying “Daddy needs a One”, for the determination roll of what was severed.   He then rolls a “1”, indicating decapitation.  The whole table erupts in a loud cheer.     The devil's body falls, and then dissipates, returning to Hell.  Lannon has almost reached the Arch Mage when Morgarth casts a Teleport spell and vanishes.</blockquote>

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