Rise Of The Snakemen [Forgotten Realms]

[Brakkart]

The Party With No Name

Considering that the entire party levelled up last session, here are the updated short stats for the group:

Mark Noob Saibot CG Human Ranger2/Rogue3
Alastair Gylippus CN Human Rogue3/Wizard3
Gareth Zamtap N Human Cleric6 (Gond)
Dan Elena Morningstal CG Human Fighter2/Cleric1/Swashbuckler3 (Valkur)
Phillip Aeron Greycastle NG Air Genasi Wizard5
Tony Ki Tendragion LN Human Rogue3/Monk2 (with a level still to decide)
Matt Jebodiah Bugman CG Dwarf Barbarian3/Fighter2
Richard Thols Perendhel LG Half-Elf Paladin4/Cleric1 (Torm)

As can be seen from this, it is becoming more obvious where the characters are headed. The prestige classes that I know of that are being aimed towards are:

Jebodiah - Frenzied Berserker
Gylippus - Arcane Trickster
Zamtap - Techsmith
Aeron - Elemental Savant (or at least he was a while back)
Ki - Shadowdancer

I know Elena is planning to just level up through the Swashbuckler class now, and I have no idea what (if any) prestige class Noob and Thols are aiming towards. Aeron asked to use an optional rule from Unearthed Arcana to allow him to pay 4000 XP to buy himself out of the +1 level adustment for Genasi, which I allowed.

 

[Brakkart]

DM's Log of Session Sixteen

As morning broke, and the party began preparing for the inevitable running battle they would have to fight to break through the lizardfolk tribe around the house, their ranks were bolstered when Noob returned from scouting out the grounds with nothing to report. Having armed and armoured themselves, spells ready in minds and blades and bows in hand, the party set forth from the wrecked house, making their way to where the ruined gatehouse used to stand and then out onto the narrow winding causeway through the murky waters and muddy islands of the mere.

To the groups surprise they were not intially assaulted, and their trek through the swamp went unchallenged for a few hours, before Ki suddenly saw shapes in the water to either side of the causeway and called out a warning to his comarades... a little too late, as the Poison Dusk emerged from the waters of the swamp all around and launched a volley of arrows into the group, targeting Jebodiah in particular. It was then, that a large lizardman emerged onto the causeway some way ahead and bellowed out:

"Give us the dwarf and the rest can pass in peace. I seek only to avenge the death of my son at his hands"

With this in mind, and a momentary lull in hostilities, the group took advantage of the situation and cast spells of protection on as many of themselves as they could, both Gylippus and Aeron rendering themselves immune to missile attacks, while Zamtap cast a prayer to bolster the groups effectiveness. Considering this to be a violation of the offer of peace, (as the lizardfolk lacked any spellcasters with them and thus had no idea what the spells were for), they resumed their attacks, launching volleys of arrows at the group, as they then started to push their way forwards towards the obvious chieftain.

Jebodiah for his part, shouted back that he accepted the chieftain's challenge to combat, and ran to meet him, the lizardfolk not shooting him, lest they incur the wrath of their liege who wanted a fair fight. By bow and blade the group surged down the causeway, the dwarf in the lead, picking off the Poison Dusk left and right, Noob tagging along at the back of the group, ensuring that none remained behind where the main bulk of the group had passed to harry them from the rear.

The others launched arrows, bolts and spells at the other members of the tribe, who harried them with missile fire in return from nearby islands, or they fended off the claws of the scaly people who had swam up to the causeway to engage them in melee. All the while, behind the chieftain stood a muscular figure with a snakes head and scaled skin, Sissiska, having escaped during the night from the cellar the group had confined him too and wanting revenge. With his large bow, he pumped thick shafted arrows into several of the group, in particular Elena, who waded through the water to get at him and engage the halfblood in battle with her cutlass.

Running to meet the chieftain, Jebodiahs legs could not carry him quite far enough to land the first blow, which went to his opponent, who skewered him with his longspear. The battle was brief, and while the dwarf fought well, his axe carving a great slice across the lizardmans abdomen, the teeth and claws of the chieftain (and an arrow that Ki had aimed at Sissiska, but which ended in Jebodiah's back), proved superior and the barbarian fell at the chieftains feet... only for Thols to intervene and lay healing on his bleeding body.

Rising back up, Jebodiah roared out and cut the chieftain down in a rain of blood, victorious in combat, though angry that the others had intervened in his fight. Rushing forwards to aid Elena, Thols added his armed might to the task of bringing down Sissiska. Aeron helping also by summoning a celestial bee to harass him, and the villain was quickly dispatched. At the loss of their leader and the snakeman also, the remaining Poison Dusk fled back into the Mere, leaving the group free to continue onwards and put the swamp behind them.

Not long after nightfall, the group returned to Iniarv's Tower and made a report of their findings to Sir Justin Melenikus, who after reading through the journal they were carrying agreed that this was information that shoulkd be brought to the attention of Lord Peirgeiron Paladinson in Waterdeep as soon as possible. Too for clearing out a lair of Yuan-ti, and wiping out a good number of the lizardfolk in the area, he issued a credit note for 1000 gold pieces, redeemable at the Merchants Guild in Waterdeep. Taking up his offer of a place to stay the night, the party rested in one of the retored buildings in the towers courtyard and slept soundly.

DM's Notes:

Yeah, this was "Run the Gauntlet: The Inevitable Sequel." I had so much fun the first time around that there had to be another go at it. The party had a considerably easier time of it this time though, and in retrospect I really should have had some shamans in the Poison Dusk's ranks. It was a fun way to start Chapter Three of the campaign and since I won't be getting to run another game like this for quite some time/if ever again, in this campaign, was good that the PC's got a chance at delivering some payback to the tribe who shot them up so badly getting into Wolfhill House.

And it was VERY nice to have my entire group together again for the first time in months, welcome back Mark!

 

[Brakkart]

DM's Log of Session Seventeen

Waking on Marpenoth 23rd, the group took breakfast with Sir Justin and his Watchers of Helm, it largely consisting of a thick and almost tasteless porridge, which everyone ate, but which Jebodiah was to complain about for the rest of the day! Before leaving Iniarv's Tower, Zamtap left behind his pistol and supply of smokepowder and bullets with Sir Justin, as Thols had explained in no uncertain terms that such items were deemed illegal in Waterdeep and that he would have to answer for having brought them into the city on his last visit there. Saddling up, the group bade their farewells, and rode out onto the High Road, headed south at all due haste for Waterdeep. The day passed uneventfully, and just before dusk they rode into the fortress-enclave of Thornhold, overlooking the southern tip of the Mere of Dead Men. Paying to stay the night at the Inn within the walls.

Before setting back out along the road to Waterdeep on the next day, Thols invested some of his coin in buying a Tower Shield, while Jebodiah traded in the battered steel shield he had acquired from one of the suits of armour in Wolfhill house for a few extra gold pieces in his purse.

Only a few hours after leaving Thornhold behind them, the group spotted a dark shape in the sky, diving towards them, and as they were on a narrow part of the road, cliffs on one side, a sheer drop to the sea on the other, they elected to dismount to fight the oncoming threat, which as it closed could be clearly identified as a Chimera! Swooping down on the party as they hurriedly dismounted, it spewed a line of acid to engulf Thols and Jebodiah at the head of the party, the dwarf avoiding the worst of it, but his pony badly hurt and bolting away down the road, leaving him without a mount. Thols took the full brunt of the acid though, but it was the dwarf who the creature barelled into, heads, horns and claws tearing at him as he valiantly battled the twisted monsters onslaught.

Seeing the danger, Aeron coolly targeted the beast and enfeebled it, Zamtap following suit with a prayer to boost the groups tenacity, whilst further hampering just how lethal the creature could be. Whilst Noob did his best to avoid direct combat, the creature brought the battle to him, blasting another line of acod into him and beyond him, Aeron, the genasi neatly sidetepping most of the vile tide, whislt the ranger was bathed thoroughly in it. Thols launched himself into the fray to give the creature another target to hit besides Jebodiah, but as inured as he was, had to see to healing himself before he could aid the beleaguered dwarf in killing the thing, and try as he might Ki just could not seem to get past its scaly hide. As the creatures attacks began to take a toll, so Zamtap cast a spell to give many of the group limited regeneration.

Still the pair did succeed in distracting the chimera from attacking only Jebodiah, which would have gone well for the group had the dwarf not tripped over on his next swipe, overbalancing and crashing to the road in front of the beasts draconic head... which duly gave him a second acid bath, the spray catching Elena also who had just reached the melee. As blows rained in finally on the monster, both Noob's arrows and Aeron's magical missiles taking a toll, so Elena calmly darted forwards and ran the beast through with her cutlass, dropping it dead to the road in her first strike at it, much to the annoyance of pretty much everyone else! Cutting open the beasts guts, Aeron managed to fish out some items of minor magical worth and a fair few silver coins also. That done, the group chased down their bolted mounts and dragged the chimera's corpse to the cliffs overlooking the Sea of Swords, sending it to a watery grave, and then continuing southwards.

The group camped for the night beside the road, and other than merchants, peasants and other assorted travellers on the road, they met or saw nothing of interest for the next day, arriving at Waterdeep in the evening, whereupon they split up and headed off in a variety of directions.

Thols and Zamtap headed to the officers Watchhouse, for him to report in and also report the Gondsman for possession of a smokepowder weapon. Reporting to Lieutenant Julia Ackerman of what had transpired during his absence from the city. However, despite one being an officer of the law, and the other a cleric, neither could relate a very detailed account of events, Thols constantly falling back on his need to hand her the journal which he claimed would explain everything, yet he had not brought it with him. Angry at the pair of them for the lack of information they could provide, and that they could confirm that Esau Enoch had escaped again, she dismissed them telling them to return with this journal.

Elena (who was in possession of the journal still, having kept hold of it after finding it and reading it out), made a beeline for the tavern she stayed at last time she was in the city, stopping off on the way only to hand her cutlass in to a weaponsmiths to get it magically enhanced.

Thols elected to go searching for Elena in the morning and retired to a bunk in the watchhouse while Zamtap made his way to The House of Inspired Hands, the citys temple to Gond where he made a tithe to his deity, paid for his breastplate to be magically enhanced by one of the temples blacksmiths, and related what he knew of the Yuan-ti's alchemical cloning experiments to the temples high priestess Jhoadil Zulthind, before taking a bunk for the night.

Gylippus and Noob made their way around various shops before seeking their rest, selling off much of the excess loot the group had been carrying around along the way.

The next day (Marpenoth 26th) dawned over Waterdeep, a light rain bathing the City of Splendors, and washing muck from the sreets as the group woke scattered across the city, and made their way to The Yawning Portal Inn to meet and plan what to do next. After dividing up the monies and useful magical gear from the partys haul, most of the group elected to go with Thols and Elena back to the watchhouse to make a better case for the evidence they had gathered.

DM's Notes:

Heh, we actually ran out of time this week, the games club was shutting for the night, so we have to end at where we did. Shame really, could have carried on for quite some time. While the party did move quite a distance this week, I have to admit to being less than happy with how the session went. This campaign started back in August last year, every detail of it has been experienced by most of the players, and is recorded here for easy reference, and yet when put on the spot, neither Richard or Gareth could provide a credible in-character account of recent events, including what had happened in just the last session, instead trying to fall back on the old "Ohh I tell her what's happened".

That isn't roleplaying, not to my mind, saying something like that is a cop out. You want to tell a character something, then actually say it, you are playing a role afterall, and conversation is part of that. Neither the characters, nor the players are unintelligent, far from it, so to my mind this smacks of simply not paying any attention. In which case I have to wonder, am I boring you guys? I know you read this, so let me know, because if so tell me. Heck I handed out sheets this session and asked my group to write out some ideas for subplots for their characters so that I could perhaps tailor the campaign to appeal more directly to their characters, and I got very little in the way of useful ideas back. To those of you putting in the effort to take an interest and play your characters with personalities I apologise for this rant.

 

[Brakkart]

DM's Log of Session Eighteen

Trooping into the watchhouse, the grouping of Aeron, Zamtap, Elena, Jebodiah and Ki are shown to Lieutenant Ackerman's office. After a lolt of explaining, bringing the officer up to speed on what they know, they turn over the journal to her keeping, so that she can bring it to the Lords attention. She dismisses the group after taking down their names and where they are staying, telling them to wait to be contacted, and that it might take a few days.

Elena deciding that she needs new clothing if she is going to appear before any Lords, asks the lieutenant for the address of a good tailors, and is given the location of the Morningstal Emporium, a tailors shop on the corner of The Street of Silks and Sevenlamps Alley. Heading there with Jebodiah, the lady pirates curiosity is piqued when the sign bears a stylised 'M' matching the one on her signet ring, that she has had as long as she can remember. Entering the shop, they are looked at down the noses of some of the well to do clients being measured for garments, and the proprietor approachs them, in troducing himself as Joach Morningstal.

When Elena introduces herself he looks at her stunned, having though that his sister died years ago along with their parents during a pirate attack on the family ship. He quizzes her about her past, keen to find out if any others survived the attack, but learns nothing in that regard, save that his sister has grown up on ships. Embracing her, he asks where she is staying and is appalled to learn that she has taken up residence in a well known brothel, insisting that she move to his house above the shop at once, lest she drag the family name into disrepute. It is only then that he looks at her, and the grizzled dwarf warrior with her and realises that she is an adventurer too! Leaving the brother and sister to get re-acquainted, and for Elena to meet her sister in law and two nieces, Jebodiah makes his excuses and heads back to his Inn.

Six days fly by, with nary a word from the Lords and upon meeting at The Yawning Portal on Uktar 2nd, around noon as the group always does, they decide to go and see the Lieutenant and find out what progress has been made, knowing that in the days they have been sat around waiting, the Yuan-ti will have completed another batch of Megalomen clones. Upon reaching the watchhouse though, they are informed that no-one has seen the lieutenant since she reported in sick, several days ago, a kid delivering the message. In the company of Sargeant Eckles, the group head across the city to her house.

With no-one answering the knocks on the door, the Sargeant opens it and then deputises the group to investigate the property, as they know what it is that they are looking for. Heading inside, the first thing the group finds is the beheaded corpse of a small girl on the stairs. Heading upstairs, they quickly discover the bodies of Julia Ackerman and her husband in the main bedroom, and her other daughter in the bath. All four corpses have a design cut into the flesh, that of a pair of sabre-teeth. There is no sign of the journal on the premises, and the group quickly conclude that the Fangs of Sseth cell active in Waterdeep must be responsible for this atrocity.

The party waste no time, then, heading directly across the city to Blackstaff Tower where they do their best to get the attention of the archmages within, the nature of the towers cloaking illusions making this hard, until eventually their perseverance pays off and Laeral Silverhand apears before them to ask what is the reason for the disturbance. When they explain what has happened, she calmly speaks "Khelben, come outside, some people need to see you" and within a few seconds the Lord Mage of Waterdeep himself strides out of the tower, the famous blackstaff for which he is named clasped in hand. After a brief explanation, he invites them inside, and the party head into the tower and up to a large comfortable study chamber, seating themselves. After a lengthy discussion and much cross questioning from Khelben, the group finish explaining what has transpired recently and the impending threat to Faerun from what the Yuan-ti are now capable of doing.

While somewhat sceptical about their claims that the Yuan-ti have created a process that duplicates and improves upon the Clone spell using alchemy, he knows sincerity when he hears it, and is duly alarmed by the prospect of the Chultan peninsular falling under the total rule of the snakemen. He tells the group that he will put a fast ship at their disposal (the Tisiphone) and that he will alert his agents (The Moonstars) to what is going on, to see if any of them can further aid the group. Lastly he will bring this news to Lord Paladinson, as should the knowledge of the cloning process spread to the Yuan-ti of the Serpent Hills, then Waterdep itself will be endangered. He suggest that the group should make all haste south to Tashluta and from there head into the Black Jungles to find the Yuan-ti's cloning chambers and destroy them and the notes required to build more. With that he dismisses the group from the tower, telling them that the ship will be ready to sail in two days.

On Uktar 3rd, each of the party receive a messemgber bearing a pouch containing 200 platinum coins and a very long winded letter from Lord Paladinson, praising the group for their heroic efforts to stamp out threats to life and liberty and how such was in keeping with Waterdeep's grand tradition of oppossing tyrany and lawlessness, citing recent examples of them battling the Phaerimm in the defence of Evereska and how Haedrak's army set sail from the city to liberate and re-unite Tethyr just a few years before that. Needless to say most of the group headed out to spend the coins, leaving the letters mostly unread in their rooms.

On learning that to buy offensive magical wands, he must first join the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, Gylippus shrugs and stumps up the 50 gold coins, and then buys a Wand of Magic Missiles. Noob on the other hand, having purchased a box of Nexalan cigars from an Aurora's Whole Realms Emporium, pays a gnomish inventor by the name of Caractacus Okalthok to make him a cigar lighter, which he does, and then the ranger pays another artisan to have it decorated with fire and dragon motifs. Several other members of the group put the unexpected windfall of cash to good use also, purchasing various upgrades to their equipment, or simply stocking up on healing potions and anti-venom.

DM's Notes:

Yep, another no combat week, thoughafter the carnage of the past few sessions I think it was quite welcomed by everyone, as were the bags of money that I had Lord Paladinson send the partys way, which I figured would be pretty in character for him to do. I did my best to play Khelben as he is described in the various books and novels,. a bit gruff and taciturn, but intelligent and understanding. I hope he came across well.

I also enjoyed a chance to use what is arguably my favourite book ever published for D&D, the Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog, which is brilliant for when players visit a big city or town and want to know what is for sale. you can just toss this out onto the table and let them, browse (with a few exceptions, like the DaRoni's Workshop chapter, though that would probably be quite apt for a city in say Lantan). I'm sure it got a little repetitive for the players to have to recite things over and over again to various people, but that was sort of the point. I can say that the roleplay this week was a huge improvement over last session.

 

[Brakkart]

DM's Log of Session Nineteen

As the others made their purchases buying various items of use in the jungles to which they were headed, or in general as both Zamtap and Ki purchased a Travel Cloak, Jebodiah had another need in mind entirely. Seeking out a branch of Aurora's Whole Realms Emporium he bought several small barrels of beer for the journey, buying a few different brands. On taking them back to the Safehaven Inn for the night, the landlord informed him that he'd have to stash them in the cellar, as if any beer was getting drunk under his roof, it was going to be bought from his bar. Jebodiah agrees and after placing his cache in the cellar, the landlord remembers that someone was there earlier in the day looking for him. Not recognising the description of the man as anyone he knows, the dwarf buys a pint and sits down at a table to wait and see if they come back.

A few hours, and several more beers later, his patience is rewarded when a wizardess escorted by four men in armour walk into the Inn and set upon him. While she stays back and showers him with magic missiles, her bodyguards wade into combat ... much to their regret, as withoiut even breaking into a decent battle rage, the barbarian hews them down, dispatching three in no time at all, they barely able to get a hit in on him, and seeing him advance towards her, the wizardess blasts him one last time from her wand and flees into the street, as her fourth guard is swiftly sent to join his fellows on the Fugue Plane. Running out into the street, Jeb is annoyed to see that the woman has vanished, and on heading back inside he is informed that he and the group can clear out of the Inn, as they will be bad for business in a place that is called the Safehaven.

Jebodiah heads to the Yawning Portal to tell the others of what has happened, paying Durnan to stash his beer there for the night, and then heads back to the Inn with Thols to collect the groups bags. While the sargeant busies himself with helping the watch collect the bodies and take statements from those in the Inn at the time, Jebodiah piles the various bags and bedrolls onto himself and heads back to the Portal carrying the lot. The group decide to split up and all spend the night in different taverns, well except for Elena who is staying with her brother.

Noon of Uktar 4th saw the group assemble on the docks at the Tisiphone's berth, the ship an odd combination of schooner and dhow. Her captain introduces himself as Baeran Winstronn and he informs the group that sailing to Tashluta will take roughly 22 days of sea travel, but that he intends to put in at Athkatla and Calimport to take on supplies. The partys horses and gear are loaded aboard, along with Jebodiahs beer, and the party pair up into their cabins, Noob sharing with Gylippus, Jebodiah with Ki, Aeron paired with Zamtap, and Elena gets a cabin to herself, as Thols stays in Waterdeep, having received a promotion to Lieutenant and command of the watchhouse he is stationed at. Waving the others goodbye at the docks, he returns to his duties. Setting sail on the tide, the Tisiphone eases out of the harbour and heads south along the Sword Coast.

Six days slip past without being noticed, Gylippus and Aeron busying themselves in their cabins copying spells into their spellbooks from scrolls they bought in Waterdeep and also from the spellbook they captured from Janesh Broca. Noob and Jebodiah both spend their time being sick, neither really having much in the way of sea legs, and Elena is perfectly at home up in the crows nest, drinking Jebodiah's stash of beer as he has completely lost his appetite for the stuff. It is in the mid afternoon of Uktar 10th though that from on high, Elena sees a large green winged shape soar up out of the Cloak Wood as the ship passes it, and bear down towards them. Shouting down a warning to the deck, the party and crew ready themselves for battle, several crewman running to the ships foredeck, and taking the canvas off the pair of ballistas mounted there, readying them for use.

The green dragon swoops over the ship, blasting down with its breath weapon, green corrosive gas enveloping many of those on the deck, and nearly killing Zamtap outright, who quickly darts down the stairs and gets below decks to heal himself. As the dragon banks around for another pass, Aeron walks to Jebodiah and casts Fly on him, telling the eager dwarf to wait until the dragon passes over again, then soar up and tear its guts out. Elena launches an arrow at the scaly beast, only to watch it bounce harmlessly off the creatures scales, it having cast spells also to grant it a shield and magical armour. Gylippus and Aeron groan, looking at one another and saying at once "Should have memorised a Dispel Magic". Realising that her bow is going to be of no use, Elena attempts to quickly descend to the deck, but misplaces her footing and falls a good deal of the way, landing with a thud. As the dragon dives back towards the ship, so everyone on board readies themself for a tough fight to come...

DM's Notes:

Well this session went well, the group spent their money wisely for the most part, and certainly in character for Jebodiah in the case of the beer, shame he's too sick on the ship to actually drink any of it. I tossed the battle in the Inn his way to catch him up a bit in experience to the rest of the group, as having died twice in this campaign he was lagging a little bit behind. As he is again the partys primary fighter with the departure of Thols, he needed a bit of a push to help him regain what he lost. Richard has decided to leave the group, which is regrettable, but he has other commitments. Not sure yet whether I'm going to get a replacement player in, or let the group return to seven players. I know at least one person who would love to fill the vacant seat at the table (we get spectators watching our game in the club!)

Decided a dragon would be a good opponent for a fight at sea, the players have been overly confident at fighting dragons since killing the young red in his lair, so I figured I'd see how they do against a slightly bigger dragon out in the open, a green this time (it's name is Salamaress), and on a limited battlefield, while it can swoop about at its leisure, the party are constrained by the size of the ship (well apart from Jebodiah that is who now can fly, didn't see that one coming... I love it when my group pull something sneaky like that, Phil is especially good at doing it!)

 

[williem-de'bloodie]

draagonslayers

pffft we're gonna slaughter this dragon as well

we have super jeb

 

[Brakkart]

DM's Log of Session Twenty

The group waited as the green dragon got ever closer, Aeron counselling Jebodiah to wait until the dragon was overhead before taking flight, the dwarf eager to take to the air. But Salamaress did not pass over the bulk of the ship on her second pass, instead sweeping over the forecastle and in a brutal combination of attacks with teeth, claws and tail, wiping out the four men crewing the ballistas there, to rid herself of the threat they posed.

While the rest of the group readied thmselves for her third pass, Gylippus rolled his eyes and walked to the side of the ship, his fingers moving in arcane gesture as he spoke aloud words of power, pointing at the dragon, who was flying off to bank around again, it roaring out in confusion as his blindness spell worked, the great reptiles sight stripped away in an instant.

Going quiet, the party and remaining crew sailed onwards as the dragon floundered in the air and then dived into the Sea of Swords, intent now simply on reaching land, rather than on attack. When after several minutes of tense waiting the green monster did not emerge again from under the waves the party took to celebrating with Jebodiah's ale stash.

Days slipped by easily, as the ship progressed down the coast, making a brief stop in Athkatla to take on supplies and then continuing southwards again. It was on Uktar 15th, while sailing out of sight of the land, the ship having put further out to sea to avoid the pirates known to harbour in the occupied port of Murann, that a ship was spotted to the rear of the Tisiphone, bearing down on them. Larger and with more sails, and sailing in the smaller schooners wind, stealing it, it was only a matter of time before it caught them. From her elevated vantage point in the crows nest,. Elena saw the black sails and the crude white orc skull painted on them and swallowed a little nervously, recognising the Oathbreaker, an infamous orc pirate ship that two years previously had captured her own ship the Fardale, and she had seen her Captain and best friend lose their lives to the orc's captain, a brute by the name of Skaaag.

Readying for battle as best as they could, the captain ordered his remaining crew below decks to keep them out of the fight, rationalising this as a neccesary action, as even if they won, it would do them no good if they lost the crew in the process. As the Oathbreaker came close enough, so Elena and Ki loosed arrows at the orcs on the pirate ship forecastle, they returning the favour and targetting everyone on the stern castle of the much smaller Tisiphone, the Oathbreaker more than double the size of the schooner, its deck crawling with orcs armed for battle.

As the larger ship came alongside, Ki hurled pots of incendiary fire into the sails of the orc's ship, setting them ablaze and the orcs retaliated by hurling grapples across to anchor the ships together, several orcs swinging across the gap on ropes to land on the Tisiphone's deck and engage most of the party in melee, especially Jebodiah. As battles broke out across the deck of the Tisiphone, so the orcs dropped a gangplank across between the two ships to make reaching the smaller ship that much quicker. Seeing Elena fighting on the stern of the schooner, Skaaag strode along the deck of his ship, snagged a rope and swung over to confront her, the lady calling out "He's mine!" to deter her comrades from aiding in a very personal duel.

From the Oathbreakers deck, the orc priest Gurnash did what he could to hinder the party and aid his captain. Breaking loose from melee, Zamtap summoned a monkey to harry the enemy priest but it had little effect and so he made his way towards the stern. Ignoring Elena's cry, Ki edged around to flank Skaaag, hoping to strike him down with a wel placed blow, but in a matter of seconds, things went badly for the group, as having hacked down several orcs in close combat, Jebodiah put a foot wrong and slipped in the blood of one of those he had felled, collapsing to the ground, Stormcleaver slipping from his grasp and he bashing his head on a step, stunning himself for a few moments, an orc leering over him. Almost at the same time, Skaaag invoked his rage, and tore through Elena's defense, his first blow ripping through her abdomen, and as she dropped, his second cut her in two, the lifeless halves of her falling at his feet as a horrified Ki and Zamtap watched helplessly...

DM's Notes:

Well that's the first permanent party death, Elena won't be coming back from that. Quite an action packed session this one, kicking off with the dragon fight, which certainly ended in a surprising way, I didn't see that spell coming. Kudo's to Gylippus for pulling that feat off, though quite how he'll ever top that I don't know (and not sure I want too!)

Sad that Elena was killed, and by her nemesis from her backstory too, killed by your own character history, thats unusual. I was always planning on having a pirate battle (cos hey pirates rule, and always wanted to do a ship to ship battle, thank the various divine ones for battlemats!), but thanks to Dan writing her history, the vague pirates I had in mind, became the Oathbreaker and her orcish crew. As for Jebodiah, heh, Matt rolled a 1 to hit and then a 100 on the Fumble table we use (which got him 3 more rolls on the table, thankfully for him he didn't roll anything too nasty on those rolls!).

 

[Brakkart]

DM's Log of Session Twenty One

It was then that a door slammed open on the Tisiphone and Aeron Greycastle strode out onto the deck, growling at the noise as he had been scribing spells. On seeing the orcs around the deck he cast a spell to ward him from arrows and levitated upwards, to get a clear view of the Oathbreakers deck, blasting the orcs there with a Scintillating Sphere, killing three of them instantly. Somewhat alarmed by this development, the orc stood over Jebodiah missed his blow at the dwarf who quickly recovered his wits and his axe, and buried Stormcleaver in his hapless foe.

Ki's resolve though, on seeing Skaaag stood over what remained of Elena, broke and he fled down from the stern to the main deck, quaffing a healing potion on the way. The orc captain, seeing Jebodiah as the most likely threat advanced on him, bolstered by spells cast by the orcs priest Gurnash, until Zamtap spotted his opposite number and went to work counterspelling his foes enchantments, each priest negating the other, as Jebodiah hewed about him, chopping orcs like firewood, until his axe flew from his grasp and landed on the Oathbreakers deck. Fending off blows with his shield and punching back with it as Skaaag barrelled into him, Jebodiah was relived when Aeron flew across to the other deck and returned with his axe, handing it back to him. Stormcleaver clashed with Skaaag's axe as the two barbarians faced off against one another trading a quick series of blows which ended with the dwarf lopping off the orcs head, a dim sense of satisfaction felt from his axes slumbering intelligence at this victory.

With the defeat of their captain, and the rest of the party making short work of the remaining orcs on the Tisiphone's deck, Gurnash surrendered, and in return for his life, turned over the contents of the orcs hold to the party. With the Oathbreakers sails destroyed and her warriors and captain slaughtered, the orc priest pointed out that it would be some time before his ship would get back to port and longer still to get a new crew, captain and fittings for the ship with no coin in the hold to spend on such. Knowing that they had more pressing business elsewhere to attend to than dealing with a crippled pirate ship, the party agreed, emptied the hold of everything of value and sailed off towards Calimport.

Sailing into the the massive harbour of Calimport on Uktar 22nd, the party were reccomended the Bloody Cutlass Inn on the docks, opposite the Tisiphone's berth by Captain Baeran. While most of the party decide to take the good captain's advice, Zamtap sets off through the city, intent on finding a temple to Gond. After some inquiries, and a donation at the Coinchapel (a temple to Waukeen) to pay for accurate directions, he arrived at the Palace of Wonders, a rather grandly titled small temple to the Wonderbringer, intending to buy himself a new pistol.

However, on introducing himself, he was told that his superiors on Lantan having been informed of his quest (thanks to him reporting his actitivies and ionteded heading, to the temple in Waterdeep), have deemed his mission to be of the utmost importance, seeing the Yuan-ti's efforts with regard to technology and science as a direct challenge to Gond's primacy over innovation and artifice. Thus the Overgold of the temple, informed the rather startled priest that a knight had been dispatched to aid him in his quest, who had brough a replacement pistol with him, and that he had gone down to the docks to await the Tisiphone's arrival. Muttering his thanks, Zamtap started walking back towards the ships berth to try and find his new ally, knowing only that the man he is looking for is named Lord Edward Hamilton.

In the meantime, having booked himself into a room at the Cutlass, Jebodiah took it upon himself to take Elena's body to the Admiral's Assembly (a large temple to Valkur, located near the divide between Dock and Armada Wards), paying to have the body taken back to Waterdeep and her brother for proper burial. On returning to the Inn, Gylippus persuades the group to stay in Calimport for longer than the couple days they had planned, so that they might benefit from the cities vast resources, reasoning that with a potentially long jungle trek ahead of them, this could well be their last chance to equip themselves for the task ahead. Sweetening his argument, was the division of money from the orcs hold, and equipment sold, meaning everyone in the gropup was flush with coin, and with ideas on how best to spend it. The party agree on a stay of eight days.

DM's Notes:

Well the battle was wrapped up nicely, and it was nice to have Phil back at the table this week after his absence last session. No sign of Mark now for a couple weeks, and I get the general impression that he isn't coming back, cutting the party back to six players. hopefully this isn't going to become a trend. I wasn't overly surprised when the group decided to stay longer in Calimport than the couple days Captain Baeran was planning on stopping for, as it is one of (if not the) largest cities in the Realms, and a very magical place also, making it the perfect place to stop and equip for what lies ahead.

 

[Brakkart]

Lord Edward Hamilton's (Ash) History

Born some twenty five years past to the Noble family of Hamilton. His father Lord Robert Hamilton and his mother the Lady Francesca Hamilton Born in the port city of Athkatla. The Hamiltons lived there until Edward was five whereby they moved to Lantan so that Lady Francesca could be near her beloved sister a cleric of Sune by the name of Kirianna Suzanna. Lord Robert Hamilton had been born into an old line of nobles and a very extensive family fortune. The families money having been gained centuries earlier then invested in a series of small businesses in Athkatla to keep the family in money.

Robert wasn't what you'd call a handsome man but he had a certain charm to him that had won him the love of his wife. Francesca on the other hand had been born to a well to do family in Lantan and was raised with her older sister Kirianna by their mother who worked as a scullery maid to a Noble family in Lantan. Francesca and her sister grew to be the most beautiful young women in the land of Lantan. As they grew up Francesca and Kirianna found they had completely different interests as Kirianna became involved in the hedonistic ways of the church of Sune, Francesca found herself apprenticing to a seamstress.

It was this apprenticeship that took Francesca from her home in Lantan to Athkatla where she met Robert Hamilton and fell in love with his wit and charm. They were married witthin a year and Francesca was with child within two. The move to Lantan introduced the young Edward to his aunt Kirianna for the first time. At the age of eighteen Edward who had turned into what could only be described as a pretty young man was known around the local taverns not only for his looks but also for the wit and charm he had inherited from his father. Having a young girl on his arm where ever he went Edwards activities came to the attention of his aunt who asked him to come to a meeting of the church of Sune.

The High Priestess of Sune in Lantan was the direct superior to his aunt. Upon attending this meeting much to his fathers disgust it was discovered that Edward had in fact been touched by the Goddess Sune herself and had been granted the power to be a holy warrior for her. Now Edward had always been a lover and not a fighter and the news that he had been chosen by the most Beautiful Goddess ever was both a blessing and a curse to him. The blessing came in the way that he learnt to fight and defend himself from jealous husbands whose wives had fallen for Edward who was not entirely innocent in these liasons. Taught to respect the sanctity of anothers marriage Edward found himself being taught more about art, beauty and sexual acts than he was learning in combat.

The curse was that the touch of Sune alienated Edward from his father who had always intended for Edward to carry on the family line. Trying to break the idea of his son becoming embroiled in the church of Sune, Robert took his son to the main temple of Gond the Wonderbringer. Hoping to show his son that all gods had things he could learn. Asking for someone to show his son the ways of Gond one of the caretakers
of the temple beckoned for a young cleric by the name of Zamtap to show Edward around. Edward hoping to humor his father followed Zamtap around for a day or so and found a strange liking for the gondsman but no interest in what he was saying. It was at the end of the second day Edward spent in the temple of Gond that Zamtap showed Edward his pistol and what it did

Now this was something that Edward became interested in and he asked Zamtap to teach him the use of the weapon Unfortunately Zamtap was only able to weild the pistol through the use of magic so Edward left the temple, purchased his own pistol
and set abot trying to find someone to teach him how to use it. A year later a visiting Techsmith taught Edward how to use the pistol until he became proficient in its use.
continuing his training at the Temple of Sune until his twenty fifth birthday

By now his father had disowned him and forbade him from using his name ( Lord Edward Hamilton ) until such time as he forgot about this Paladin rubbish and returned to his fathers side. Everyone had taken to calling Edward, Ash on account of his use of the pistol and the piles of ash powder he always seemed to leave. Everyone that is apart from his mother and aunt who still used his birth name. Just a week ago a runner came from the temple of Gond seeking council from some of the church of Sune a group of 5 followers of Sune went to meet with the Gondsmen including Ash and his aunt Kirianna.

The Gondsmen had recieved word of a Yuan-ti plot to artificially clone mighty warriors in a hope of building an army. This news had worried the Gondsmen and although they had a cleric on the track of those responsible he had lost his pistol and had no-one to spare to send him a new weapon. It was Kirianna who asked the name of the brave cleric combating this threat to the beauty of natural life. Upon hearing that it was Zamtap who was on the trail of the Yuan-ti, Ash stood and announced that he would go and aid the efferts of the Gondsman in combating the threat that the Yuan-ti posed. Given a new pistol to give to his old friend Ash arrived at the temple of Gond the following morning to discuss how he was to find Zamtap. The clerics of Gond led Ash to a portal and after telling him the name of the ship Zamtap travelled on and the inn he was likely to stay at told him to step through. Ash seeing no danger stepped through the portal and arrived in the temple of Gond in Calimport. The Gondsmen there already seemed to know who he was and his purpose there, so not wishing to delay, Ash left the temple and headed for the port.

 

[Brakkart]

DM's Log of Session Twenty Two

As the party relaxed in a booth near the door of the Bloody Cutlass in the early evening of the day they had arrived in Calimport, they were greeted by a man in platemail who asked to see Zamtap outside for a few words, after introducing himself as Lord Edward Hamilton. Although a little hesitant, the mention that he had a replacement pistol was too much for the Gondsman to resist and he walked out of the Inn a few seconds after the platemail clad knight... only to see no sign of him on the quayside outside the Inn, and then his world exploded in flame!

Walking down the docks towards the Cutlass in the early evening, having visited a couple times earlier in the day and finding no sign of Zamtap, Lord Edward Hamilton (or Ash as he prefers to be called), was somewhat baffled to see himself walk out of the tavern up ahead, and more so when the other one of him, shifted form into that of a common dock worker, seeing Zamtap appear from the Inn then and look around in bewilderment. Before he could call out a warning though, he watched as a huge ball of fire erupted around the cleric, seeing a figure further away on the docks suddenly appear as the spell was cast. Drawing his sword he rushed towards the Gondsman to help.

From inside the Inn the rest of the party either heard the explosion, or if not that, then certainly the scream of pain from their priest and they grabbed up weapons and made their way towards the Inn's front door, well all apart from Gylippus who in his usual self preservation frame of mind, began armouring himself with spells. Outside in the street, as Zamtap recovered from the blast, staggering from his wounds, he was alarmed to see a dockworker charge into him, his form blurring again back into that of the armoured man he had followed outside, and then he was doubly stunned when another of the same man turned up, charging into the doppelganger (Smannet), aided by Ki who nimbly dodged around the various weapons and bodies to put himself in the prime position for striking at the foe, keeping him between himself and Ash. It was then that another fireball engulfed the group, as the mage (Echilleos) launched another into the fray. Badly injured, Zamtap backed away from the fray and healed himself, retreating towards the Inn's door, only for a third foe to appear, as he was charged by another man in platemail (Dorath) who greviously wounded him again, as he growled "Greetings from the Council of Wrath!"

Reaching the doorway Aeron quickly assessed the situation and drew two daggers from his belt, casting Steel Dance, animating them as they grew to the size of longswords. Grinning, he sent them to battle Dorath and Echilleos. From behind him in the Inn though came the sound of battle as Jebodiah who had been making his way to the door, was caught unawares when a phase spider (Garx) shifted into existence behind him and buried its mandibles into his back, poisoning him. Spinning around, the dwarf angrily hacked at the spider, Stormcleaver flashing through air and flesh alike, and sending the spider fleeing into another plane as it shifted away in fear of its life. Growling his satisfaction with that, he turned and continued towards the Inn's doorway.

Outside on the docks, Ash and Ki battled Smannet and clearly were getting the better of the fight, only for Ash to gasp out in pain suddenly, as a fifth foe appeared out of thin air, an assassin (Varimer) losing her invisibility as her arrow struck home from close range, the paladin of Sune staggering from the unexpected attack. With Dorath bearing down on him, Zamtap's resolve broke, and he ran into the Inn, fleeing past Aeron, whose eyes went wide, as his defender fled, leaving him at the mercy of Dorath, the armoured man effortlessly cutting the partys wizard down in the doorway. As Ki and Smannet traded blows indecisively, Echilleos was annoyed to discover that even with the wizard down, the sword that was harrassing him, just kept on attacking, following him no matter where he went!

Seeing Aeron down in the doorway, and the form of Dorath looming over the wizard ready to finish him off, Jebodiah snarled "You shall not have him!" and launched himself into the warrior, battling furiously to hold his ground and keep the wizard from an untimely death. Hearing the dwarf emerge from the Inn, smannet was momentarily distracted, which was all the opening Ki needed, darting in and running the doppelganger through with his twin daggers, dropping him to the quayside. With that foe down, Ash, turned and barrelled into Varimer, swearing revenge for the arrow the assassin had shot him with. At this development, another assassin (Terquel), launched himself into Ki, to keep the monk from aiding any of his companions in their battles. Echilleos tried and failed to shoot Ki with magic missiles, the animated sword continuing to harass and distract him.

Steeling his resolve, Zamtap advanced back through the Inn from the back corner he had run too, and cast Lesser Vigor on himself, Gylippus, Aeron and Jebodiah, the spell slowly working its magic to knit the wizards wounds back together. From his place in the Inn, Gylippus edged around to observe the battle outside through the doorway, looking for the person who loosed the fireballs earlier, and then getting caught off guard as Garx phased back in and attacked him, seeing a much easier target in the sneaky wizard than the dwarven psychopath he had attacked earlier.

Not letting the massive spider bother him, Gylippus moved away from it, and tried to blind Echilleos but the other wizard shrugged off the attempt, but was distracted enough by the effort and the sword slashing at him that his attempt to magic missile Ash failed, even as Ash prevailed in his battle with Varimer, easily dispatching the assassin. In the Inn's doorway, Jebodiah held firm against Dorath, the two warriors trading vicious blows, the dwarf not giving an inch as he stood guard over the slowly healing prone form of Aeron. Seeing the dwrf as the main obstacle to remove, Terquel broke off attacking Ki to rush in and flank Jebodiah, only for Ki to follow him, continuing to battle the assassin.

Inside the Inn, Garx scuttled after the retreating form of Gylippus, but launched itself into the nearer form of Zamtap instead, biting him, but failing to poison the cleric. In the doorway, Aeron finally awoke and crawled into a corner out of the way of the main fighting, putting a little distance between himself and danger.

Outside, Ash drew his pistol and aimed at Echilleos, stepping forwards to fire and slipping on a fish, missing the wizard entirely and ending up on his backside on the dockside, dropping his gun as well. Jebodiah prevailed in his battle of attrition with Dorath, cutting the fighter down with a pair of savage strikes, turning then to battle Terquel, but missing him as the assassin darted out of the way of the dwarf's axe and stabbed Ki again.

Zamtap cried out in pain, as Garx bit him, and as the priest desperately tried to heal himself, so the spider bit him again, injecting poison into him, the Gondsman dropping in a heap to the floor, blood pouring from his wounds, but as the spider went for the killing bite, so he was blasted to death by a volley of magic missiles, a grim faced Aeron sat in his corner, having used a wand to fell the critter.

Echilleos went to draw a wand, glancing down briefly but long enough for the sword bedeviling him to get an opening and run him through, it then flying back towards Aeron. As both Ki and Jebodiah battled Terquel, Gylippus nimbly made his way around the outside of their fight and then darted in, lancing his rapier through the assassins ribs and straight to the heart and pulling it neatly back out, the last of their foes dropping to the cobbles.
Wiping the rapier off on the body and resheathing it, the wizard grinned in satisfaction and walked off to see to the bodies.

While some of the group saw to gathering the bodies of the fallen and stripping them for valuables, Jebodiah and Ash marched straight to the Inn's bar to order drinks, closely followed by Zamtap (once his magic had partially restored his health), who seemed only interested in getting his pistol, despite the angry comments growled his way by Jebodiah, and the looks to accompany the dwarfs comments sent his way from Aeron, none of the party very happy with the priest for his show of cowardice that nearly got their wizard killed.

Still none of them could deny that the priests timely casting of Lesser Vigor had saved Aeron's life, and likely his own, and so the party set to dividing the spoils of their battle with both Gylippus and Aeron gaining a wand each, Ash being accepted into the groups ranks, and pocketing a protective ring too. Ki laid claim to a cloak of resistance, while Zamtap asked only for the armour and weapon that Dorath had carried, gaining both but using neither, claiming he needed them for a project he was working on...

DM's Notes:

Yup, this one fight took the entire session, but it was one hell of a good scrap, and all the players and myself had a great time battling it out, with the battle easily able to go either way. I had been wanting to use the Council of Wrath ever since I read Monte Cook's mini adventure featuring them (An Eye For An Eye) on the WotC website. I didn't use them as was suggested in that adventure, as it would have been hard to fit into the campaign, so they turned up as hired killers in a nasty attack on the party that nearly killed Zamtap and Aeron both, and both Jebodiah and Ash were in a bad way by the end of it.

The Council made for a good mix of adversaries what with 2 assassins, a wizard, fighter, doppelganger and a phase spider, they allow for many options, and a very varied fight. Also they have a good haul of equipment and coin, which I felt the party could put to good use while they were in Calimport. As to who hired the council? All will be revealed in due time, suffice to say that more than one group wishes the party's quest stopped!