The Broken Chain

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Most of this story hour is cross-posted at our temporary campaign site (we're going to be moving to another server in the near future), http://thebrokenchain.tripod.com Also, I'm not the DM, so not everything I say is going to be completely accurate.

Our campaign takes place in Faerun, and begins in the Northwestern part of the continent.

First, a little about the characters (who all started at first level):

• Aeron Bending is a Halfling Rogue, currently at level 5. He comes from a place in the High Forest called Jamaica (don't ask). At the beginning of the campaign, he is taken as a slave to work the mines in Ascore. He apparently has the propensity to introduce himself with a different name in each town.
  
• Cecil Túrin Andel (my character) is an Aasimar Paladin, currently ECL 4 (3 Pal + 1 Aasimar). He's from Silverymoon, comes from a long line of Paladins, is an only child, and carries the buckler of his late father. His father died on some sort of important mission that Cecil doesn't know very much about. He goes to Ascore to try to stop the slave trade.
  
• Mathias L. Jackson is a Human Bard, currently level 4. He was also taken as a slave. We usually have to remind his player that bards can give everyone a bonus by singing.
  
• Rurik Serdman (I have no idea if this is the correct spelling) is an Elven Fighter, currently level 4. He is Mathias's friend, and posed as a watchman at the slave camp in order to save him.
  
• Wan Teito is a Human Psionicist(Savant), currently level 4. He goes to Ascore to stop the responsible parties from using some sort of magic that could destroy the world. He's never adequately explained this magic, but we've learned a few things (see story).

 

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In the beginning...

Rurik Serdman, as has been said was in Ascore, posing as a guard. He and the group of slaves of which he was in charge had secretly been digging an escape tunnel, without arousing the suspicion of the other guards. (It was particularly amusing when Rurik's player, Matt, stood up and mimed cracking his whip at nobody in particular just so any eavesdroppers would think he was doing his job).

When the tunnel was finished, some of the slaves caused a cavein between the rest of the tunnel and the escape route so that it would be a while before anyone found the tunnel and followed. Many just ran off, but Rurik, Mathias, and Aeron hide in the woods and discuss plans. As they are talking, two guys (Andrew and Simon, I think) in a wagon pull up and offer them a ride. They accept.

 

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Free at last, free at last

And so, as our heroes ride away in a wagon with Andrew and whatever the other guy's name is, the meet up with a third guy in a wagon headed toward the slave place. There is a spider symbol on the wagon. This guy, whose name is Nebin, asked about the two slaves but was explained to that they were travellers they found in the forest. (He did not see Aeron Bending because Aeron was hiding in a box of some sort; that's why I say two.) As they leave for the town of Lionel, Nebin continues toward the slave camp.

When they arrive in town, Andrew takes the escapees to his uncle, George to stay for a while. After a bit Aeron gets bored and heads to the tavern, where he is surprised to find Nebin. Luckily, Nebin hadn't seen him in the back of the wagon. Aeron talks to Nebin and discovers that he has come back for supplies, so he thinks little more of it.

Fortunately, Nebin's wagon was being followed by one Cecil Andel. He saw and heard the encounter between the wagons, and saw Nebin pretend to continue but then double back. Cecil went back to the town as well and sought out George. By the time Cecil arrived, they were just finishing breakfast and talking about what should be done about the slave camp.

The discovery that Nebin was on to them changed their tactics a bit. George offered them some equipment for their journey. Then Cecil went to the stables to purchase a wagon, but the wagons were sold out so he bought some horses instead instead. They headed out and fought some Orcs.

The group arrives at Ascore, and puts their plan into action. Rurek Serdman and Mathias Jackson disguise themselves as a guard and a slave and head toward the mine. Meanwhile, Cecil and Aeron scope out the area. Cecil is noticed by some guards but bluffs his way out, claiming to be a new guy hired by Decius. They climb on top a roof, knock out three guards, check the area, and then head toward the slave place, with the intention that while the other two attack from within, they attack from the without.

 

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The biggest mansion in mansion land

Our hero-ific party was all up in the caves and about to free some slaves! So they went into one of the cavities and handed out some weapons theyd found along the way and some of Aeron's daggers and told those freed men to free the others and get the hell on out of this joint. So then the party decided they were going to head right for the king of the hill, Decius, in his mansion.

Meanwhile, another traveler, Wan Teitou, was headed to the Mansion himself to meet with Decius. As far as we know, he had some business to tend to, as in, kick Decius's ass because of what he had done with this land that Wan had told him about. So Wan was all angry and all so we catch up with him as he approaches the mansion after a long WALK to Ascore. Wan gets to the house and the guards inform him that he needs an appointment. Wan said he had sent for an appointment but the guards say that they have no such record of that. Wan then tells the guards that he would like to make his own appointment. The guards go inside once again and come back out saying that Decius would like to see him immediately. Wan is led upstairs in the vast mansion and into a banquet room where he encounters what appears to be a Drow across the table. After some, "Who are you? Why are you here?" and some more, "Who are YOU? Why are YOU here?" The drow says that Wan should el scooto mucho.

Wan stands all feirce-like and then the drow, sensing dissent, snaps his fingers twice and two guards come into the room. Wan spins around with his quarter staff and misses the first, a half-elf. Then swings again, and misses again. The other guard, a dwarf with a big axe, swings and wacks Wan... Then we jump back to the action outside. Our heroes come to the pool and pyramids outside the mansion and take one a party of six guards. They clean them out easily and then approach the door, which is still guarded by two unwavering guards. Another battle ensues and our heroes triumph and prepare to enter the mansion...

 

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Mansions and Morons

(This part was written by Rod, the DM, with editing for clarity by me)

So, our heroes head into the mansion. Two more guards block
the stairs, and when our heroes claim they have an appointment, they check with the dead...er...unconsious male guards with Final Fantasy heroine names. Oops. So another fight breaks out. During the fight Mathias L. Jackson, bard extraordinare, manages to cast the Sleep spell for the fourth time, despite his never having known it and probably being out of 1st level spells for the day. (He wasn't there, and we didn't have a copy of his character sheet.)

Aeron, on the other hand, found he would be of little use in crowded quarters combat, so he checks out a few of the side doors. Then a halfling rogue and human cleric join the fray and get beat up. They head up the stairs.

Wan was upstairs fighting two other people separately and he did something that shook the place up a bit and that alarmed the conscious guards downstairs so they went upstairs, then the party went upstairs and the battles converged. Wan spider climbed climbed on the ceiling to save himself, causing him to get whacked by bolt from below, fall unconscious, fall onto said shooting halfling, and causing much confusion.

Somewhere else in there somebody got whacked into a pillar by a raging NPC barbarian but that was okay. So the new party including Wan got rid of the remaining guards after the last one fired his bow erratically, hitting himself in the foot and causing himself to fall unconscious. So they conversed a bit, joined forces in the name of kicking-Decius's-ass, and planned an attack...

They were exploring when all of a sudden Aeron heard a noise in a previously explored room. He heard some more shouts, then went to enter the room but found nothing. As he peeked inside, a bolt flew from the master bedroom doorway past HIS FACE and into an innocent wall. They all went, "What? What the hell? I don't believe!" Then turned around. A Ray of Frost wizzed by Mathias's head and they just freaked. So they went into the room to find... nothing visible. Then Mathias got greedy, found a chest, and went to whack it open when he failed to break it and got his leg nearly hacked off by a hidden elf under the table. A battle ensued. Wan found out that there was an invisible Wizard in the room just in time to see him let loose two MAGIC MISSLES toward his face. More battle ensued during which Wan got Decius, the Wizard, in a biocurrent electric thing, and Aeron got the elf/drow flanked and dealt him a nasty blow.

At that point, the elf tumbled under Mathias's legs and hopped out of the large stained glass window under his cape, Batman™ style. Decius immediately collapsed, and Aeron took off after the elf. Mathias called for Cecil and Rurek to help Aeron out outside from upstairs as he (Mathias) and Wan tended to Decius. The elf, nearly free, hopped on his horse behind the manson and went to take off, but was then cornered by our three HEROES. Aeron promply stuck a bolt THROUGH his chest, causing instant death and a fall off his galloping horse. He then ended up thrown into the pool of liquid.

Our PARTY then awakened Decius for some questioning. They found that the elf, "Ruki," was from the City of Shade, as well as Decius himself, and that they were researching the pyramids and pool. Decius went on to say that Ruki had persuaded him into using slavery as a research resource. The powers of Ruki and the desire for power corrupted this man. He then vowed to change his ways and offered lodging to the party...

 

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Our party woke up the next day to the news that the magical aura of the Pyramids/Pool was gone. After interrogating some slaves who'd witnessed this act, our party found that a hooded dude on a horse had come through the night on horseback, done some bizarre ritual by the Pyramids/Pool, and headed off to the West. After finding out about this stuff, our party headed to the tavern to plan out their next course of action. They met up with a merchant headed to and made a deal. The party would provide protection for the caravan in return for transportation. The next day, our party set out to the West.

So they stopped at a town along the way and slept in the Inn. During the night, they were attacked by some troglodites who broke in through the window. They were unable to awaken Cecil, and he is still teased about this incident. The rest of the party killed the troglodites. The owner of the Inn gets mad that they're wrecking his room and kicks them out. They spend the rest of the night under a tree.

The next morning, Cecil and Wan go search the bodies for clues as to why they were attacked. Wan is nearly knocked out by the stench, but they find a note. Unfortunately, none of them can read the language. With the help of a librarian and a handy-dandy Draconic-Common dictionary (which Aeron never returned, and in fact, still carries), Aeron makes out "back to Citadel Fellbar." The rest is unreadable. The heroes research the Citadel for more clues, but still aren't sure about the attack or what the note means. They consider going to the Citadel to check it out, but decide against it, since the caravan is leaving in a couple of hours. Naturally, though, they figured they'd regret it, and boy did they...

 

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Chandelier-Swinging Orc?

Background: It is a sort of tradition in our group that one inn or tavern in each town be named "The [verb]-ing Orc." Since the tavern in question in this portion is in my character's hometown, Silverymoon, the DM asked me for the name. Thus, it is called "The Chandelier-Swinging Orc."

The following is from the point of view of Aeron Bending, written by his player:

Today. I tried to do good, maybe I'm not apathetic to everything. We went to the town of Silvermoon, where that asshat, Seasill or whatever, lived. I wanted to be about my own business, but I had to go to a tavern to discuss "party business" or some junk. I wasn't too interested, I was still trying to learn Draconic. A casual comment was made that I overheard about a Chandelier Swinging Orc show. Oddly enough, the tavern was supposedly called the Chandelier Swinging Orc. So I tried to make a little money, because I have the skills to pay the bills. After flipping around a bit to demonstrate my agility, the tavernowner signed me on. 25 GP is not much, but whatever. It's another pair of pants or boots. We ate, they discussed whatever it is they discuss. I had an amazing dish called "Salmon of the Gods." I had no idea what it was. But I felt really good after that. Like I could take on anything.

[ed.: "Salmon of the Gods", eaten by Aeron and Cecil, granted the benefits of the Bless spell for 1 hour.]

After the food was settled and I conned Wan into paying for my meal, I got to my routine. It was a bit more tricky than I would have figured. Three chandeliers in a row, above a ten foot hall filled with people. I would jump from chandelier to chandelier, doing tricks off of each. I've had practice with such acts of acrobatics, but nothing so weird. Finished the run, no sweat.

[ed.: He's a little unclear here, but he's talking about his practice run. In our campaign, one can make practice rolls for Perform and the like, which grant a bonus equal to +1 for every 5 over 15, but ONLY on the particular performance practiced, and ONLY that day. Practices can't be stacked, and one can only practice a number of unique performances per day equal to one's intelligence modifier.]

So I rested a bit, while my friends did whatever the hell they do. Matthias would be playing some music for me, to boost my confidence. Not that I really needed it... Time came for me to do my thing. Jumped to first chandelier, no sweat. Grabbed onto first chandelier, no sweat. Built up momentum to do a twist midair and grab the next chandelier, no sweat. Do a somersault to next chandelier and grab it, no sweat. The last thing I tried was a flip off of the chandelier, back onto the chandelier, and then a backflip onto a balcony. Things wouldn't be this easy. Just as I was to land on the balcony, the damned wall caved in, along with the balcony with it. I know how to maintain balance, so I landed in a ball, receiving no pain from the fall onto broken wood.

[ed.: Rod (the DM) really caught us off guard here. When he first announced that the wall caved in and two creatures were there, growling menacingly, our response was "You're joking, right?", except Aeron's player, who responded with "Oh ****!"]

But the events occuring next would be creepy. These two tall things, they bashed through the wall. They stood two feet from me, and I recognized them as trolls. I dashed to my junk to figure out what I had that could kill these things. It's common knowledge that they aren't harmed by normal means. So I had to think of a way to get them away, forever. So then it all became clear to me. TORCHES.

 

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So the trolls bust up the party in the tavern. Aeron recovers from his fall and runs for the torches. Wan climbs on the wall and casts manifests bio-current (which, at best, ALMOST negates the trolls' regeneration). Bard man shoots crossbow bolts (and in some cases flaming crossbow bolts). Rurik hits them with his sword. Cecil the paladin charges at them but misses and hits the wall, falling prone (natural 1). As the fight goes on, Cecil is knocked down to single-digit hit points, mainly due to poor luck. So he yells "Taste my justice!" and smacks a trolls for a lot of damage (or so). As the troll grunts in pain, he counters and knocks Cecil unconscious (exactly -1). Luckily, it's not a mortal wound. Cecil stabilizes on the first roll. (That and his last attack were the only two good rolls he had the whole day.)

Meanwhile, Aeron jumps to the chandeliers with the intent to make them fall on the trolls. One troll hits the chandelier, knocking it down onto a nearby table while Aeron hangs from the chain. He moves to the other chandelier and shoots arrows. Somewhere around this time, Mathias L. Jackson, bard extraordinaire, remembers that he's pretty good at singing. So sing he does, giving everyone a +1 to attack and damage. Wan comes down and tries to attack the trolls with his quarterstaff, but he sucks at it. A guy comes and drags Cecil away. One troll is finally brought down, and Rurik carries him into the fire where the chandelier was, effectively killing him.

It looks like the second troll is about finished, so Mathias turns invisible and heads after Cecil. He sees Cecil and another person in the back of a wagon. About this time a guy runs in and attacks Wan with a sap, knocking him out, too. Mathias makes Cecil invisible and heals him. Rurik comes out to help, but a guy jumps at him from the roof, and several others attack him. The guy driving the wagon takes off (with a third troll and another man climbing in the back), despite Mathias hitting him. Cecil breaks the hitches of the wagon, throwing most of the occupants out. Some run off, and of the remaining, fast-acting guards arrest those still alive (namely, the troll).

The second troll and the guy with the sap are taken care of. The sap guy is tied up and interrogated, the girl in the back of the wagon is untied and questioned, and the bartender has a deal with the contractors, because this sort of damage to his bar seems to happen quite often. The girl was the mayor's daughter. The guy was hired and doesn't know why, but he does know the Citadel Fellbar has something to do with it.

Our heroes have had enough of this Citadel, and opt to go there rather than continue their mercenary gig. They don't even know where the guy they were after went (other than west), and reflect that the Citadel WAS west of where they started, so he may have even gone there. They collect partial payment for the journey, to the tune of about 4000 gp, a Ring of Jumping for Wan, a +1 defending longsword for Cecil, a +1 small steel shield for Rurik, and 1 or 2 other minor magic items that I can't remember. Cecil and Rurik also buy better armor, Aeron gets some masterwork daggers, and Mathias gets a weapon enchanted with the shocking attribute. Andrew or whatever his name is also tells them of an orc encampment nearby if they want to train or something. They plan their travel. Wan doesn't want to go, instead wanting to continue west after the guy with the magic, but they get him to agree. They crash at Cecil's pad, and head out in the morning.

 

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The Breaking of the Company of the Broken Chain

It had seemed that Wan had agreed to go with the rest of the party that night, but in the morning the argument began anew. Despite the party's valid assertions that he didn't know where the guy who stole the magic was (He could even be in Citadel Fellbar, which would explain a lot, actually.) and that he was a damn fool for heading off alone, Wan went his separate way. His reasoning was that he "know what that magic can do...It can destroy the world...Besides, you guys are just going fight orcs for no reason." The rest of the party still doesn't know how he got 'Go fight orcs for no reason' from 'Go check out Citadel Fellbar because people from there attacked us twice in the past few days, and the second time nearly killed us.' They think he might have gotten confused with the once-mentioned orc training camp and the fact that Citadel Fellbar had once been captured by orcs (who would like to take it back). So Wan heads west and the rest of the party heads east.

 

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The Wan Scenario

Wan heads westward in search of the crazy guy with the magic. After walking for a bit, he is attacked by a gnoll with an axe. Wan climbs a tree and manifests Concussion, staggering the gnoll. The gnoll's three buddies fire crossbow bolts at Wan, who manifests Biocurrent on a couple of them. The first gnoll starts chopping down the tree. The resulting shaking (and a crossbow bolt) breaks Wan's concentration on the Biocurrent. All four gnolls grab their axes and chop the tree down. They chop Wan down too. He falls unconscious. They told you so, Wan.

Wan wakes up in a jail cell with a dwarf. He befriends the dwarf and impresses him by knocking out the guards and floating the key over using psionics. The two of them take to the roofs courtesy of Wan's Spider Climb power. They are spotted and chased. Wan runs and notices the guy that "stole" the magic from the pool, so follows him. Eventually into a large building. Inside, a large glowing polychromatic orb floats in the middle of the room, with signs of a struggle around it. The guy jumps into the orb, so Wan crosses his fingers and jumps into the orb.

[edit because Wan's player told me I got some of it wrong]