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Message: <blockquote data-quote="egomann" data-source="post: 1791860" data-attributes="member: 24383">Week 5, Meet the Sidekicks.Before I start, a little background. Since we only have three players now, and I worry about accidentally overpowering the party, and  Dave already has Yelm as a sidekick, and he has the advantage of Yelm being supernaturally loyal. I ask Brandon and James if they would like one, and they both say yes. Brandon rolls up his own, an Elven Zealot of Zealur, and James tells me he wants a badass fighter. Since he is not very familiar with the rules, I roll up one for him.Well, we skipped last week due to the weather, so we start out where we left off with Willowdew telling the party that the next relic is being guarded by the Kaze KaGayMuSha. They ask for more information and he tells them that they are a group of feared assassins from a far away and exotic land. They have a stronghold on the Elemental Plane of Air. After the Mages learn a couple of spells from the Red Pharaoh's captured spellbook, and the Black Talon spends a couple of days practicing with his new cloak, they take off for the portal.They find the portal, and it looks like a mini-hurricane. They fly the Magic Carpet through the eye of the hurricane and emerge on the other side in the Elemental Plane of air. They look around, and see nothing for miles and miles in any direction. Several minutes later they manage to spot a small speck in the distance, and begin to head that way. As they approach it appears to be a rock suspended in air, with a tower on the rock. As they approach, they see two reptilian figures take off from the rock and begin to fly toward them. Brandon, OOC, says "Oh <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />, Dragons!!!". The Black Talon uses the cloak to fly off the carpet, and attracts on of the figures. Both Croag and Malleus let loose Lightning Bolts, frying the one coming after them. The Black Talon scores a Crit with a Called Shot to the head. Nice Roll, Brain Goo. I tell them that when they look closer at the bodies as they begin to drift away, they look like a small dragon, with scorpions tails. OOC I tell James and Dave "Thanks for wasting your best spells".They fly over to the tower, and the closer they get, the larger it looks. Much Larger, about 4-6 times as large as they would expect. As they get closer, they hear screams coming from over the wall in the courtyard. They fly over the wall, and see two figures, and Elf and a Human, dressed in rags and tied up in a fenced in area with six spotted lions. The Black Talon flies over to the Elf, while Croag jumps off of the carpet and releases the human.  A couple of rounds later there were six dead lions and some minor damage to the party. The Elf introduces himself as Belarian, and explains he is a Zealot of Zealur. As he is doing that, the Human is bowing to Croag, and speaking to him in a language he does not recognize. The Black Talon introduces himself, and Belarian tells him that he has heard of his exploits even in his homeland. The Black Talon does not bother to explain that he was probably talking about the original Black Talon. Belarian seems very impressed and taken with the Black Talon. Belarian explains that he was traveling to the distant Chuun empire, to learn about their concept of Honor, and he was staying with the Biku clan. Their compound was attacked by the assassins, and were decimated, with himself and Micharu Biku the only survivors. Belarian translates what Micharu is saying to Croag, and tells him that since he saved him from a dishonorable death at the hands of the lions, he owes him a life debt, and will serve him faithfully until he feels that the debt is paid.Well, the party, with their two new friends, head on over to the door to the tower. The Black Talon checks for traps on the huge doors, and the party rigs up some rope to open them. Expecting to be attacked when they open the doors, they are pleasantly surprised when the see a huge hall, decorated with silk wall hangings many art objects and miniature trees, but no bad guys. Malleus uses the rod to cast Stoneskin on himself, while the Black Talon goes into the hall to begin his trap sweep. Halfway through the room, detecting still looking for traps, he hears the sound of 20 small swords being drawn as he is attacked by 20 Bonsai Ninja Treants. They make their surprise roll, and jump him. He calls for the rest of the party, but they get one round of free attacks on him. Well, the Bonsai Ninja Treants are not much of a threat, and after around 8 rounds they are all gone. The Black Talon took four criticals during the combat, but since his AC is so low, and they are only 2hd creatures, they were all level 0 crits. No honor for you buddy. Also they managed to take all of Malleus' Stoneskins. He he he.At the end of the hall, there is a large sliding door. A quick trap check, and they open it to show a huge hall with doors on the left and the right. The Black Talon checks the hall for traps, and then the party goes to the door on the right. Opening the door, they see several huge tables, very close to the ground, with pillows on the floor. Figuring they have found the kitchen, they go check out the other door. They open it up, and see a room full of all kinds of weapons, armor, and various other kinds of trophies. The Black Talon enters the room to check for traps, and once he gives the all clear, the other party members go in. Belarian and Miku see their gear, and start heading toward it.  Once Malleus enters the room, his Robe of Eyes reveals two Huge humanoid figures dressed all in black, wearing mask, hiding in the shadows. He calls out to the party, and the figures respond by throwing Shiruken at Malleus the size of manhole covers. Cloud Giant Ninja (CGN) #1 hits Malleus for 24 points, however CGN # manages to fumble, and hit his buddy. The Black Talon, Croag, Belarian and Miku go after CGN #1, while Malleus and Yelm go after #2. The four party members manage to take down CGN #1, however Malleus fumbles and drops his sword in front of CGN #2. Just before CGN #2 was going to beat down Malleus, Yelm lets loose with the highest damage Crit I have ever seen. 2 hnd swords do 2d10 to H sized creatures, and with a level 14 crit to the thigh and triple damage, penetrating several times, he manages an 84!!!! Point critical hit, and drops the CGN in one blow. Well, as the rest of the party looks on in awe, two more CGN's tumble their way into the room, and attack the party. Taking one down at a time, the party manages to take care of them, but they are getting very low on HP's. They all go back outside, where Zack was tending to some of the slaves, and he uses all of his healing spells to get the party to almost full.The party goes back in, and after carefully searching the level, they find stairs going up. They take the stairs, that lead to a landing with a short hall, and a door at the end. After carefully checking the door, they open it up to reveal a large that can best be described as a Dojo. Practice dummies, mats on the floor, and all of the walls are mirrored. The entire party, expecting a trap, enter the room. As soon as they do, the mirrors swing open to reveal 5 CGN's!!!. Combat starts, and since the party was expecting this, I did not make them roll for surprise. The CGN's all had throwing stars ready and throw them at the party. Belarian, Yelm, and Malleus all get hit, but Croag gets hit twice, bringing him down to about 3 HP's. He and Belarian exit the room, while the rest of the party charges CGN #1. The party manages to gang up on CGN #1 and take him down, however the Black Talon fumbles, gets blood in his eye, and has a -3 to hit for the rest of the combat. The rest of the CGN's charge the party, drawing weapons on the way. The next round Malleus takes out CGN #5 with a Ralph's Placid Arrow, and the party starts beating on CGN #2. In the other room Belarian heals up Croag. Just as Croag comes back in, CGN #4 smacks Miku twice, bringing him below 10 HP's. The rest of the party is hurting badly as they start to take on the last two CGN's. CGN #3 takes a big swing at Croag a badly injured , and Malleus jumps in the way as CGN #4 goes after a badly injured Yelm when The Black Talon jumps in the way and takes the hit for him. The party manages to take down CGN #4, and only CGN #3 is left. Everyone is below 20 points, and any single hit will probably kill whoever gets it. Initiatives are rolled, and the CGN goes on 4. The Black Talon strikes on One and Two, hits and misses. Malleus goes on two, and scores a mighty blow, and then Croag strikes true on three, and delivers the killing blow to the last CGN.Well, that was it for this week. The party is out of healing spells, mostly out of arcane spells, and everyone is below 20 HP's. Next week should be interesting. Let me know what you think. This was one of our best sessions yet, I think.</blockquote>

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