The Gateway Campaign

[kenobi65]

Back on the Eric Noah pages, I had started to post the game notes from our 3E campaign, which we started in January of 2001. I had slacked off on updating the thread, but figured, with Morrus's re-launch of his boards, it was a good opportunity to get all the notes posted (and hopefully I won't slack off this time!)

Our campaign takes place in a homebrewed world, although I do use the stock Greyhawk deities. We started the PCs at 3rd level, mostly because I didn't want to have to worry about them being too fragile to survive one or two bad die rolls.

(BTW, if you're a fan of Stargate SG-1, you'll recognize that the Gateway is based, at least in part, on the mechanics of the Stargate.)

We play about once per month; each session's notes are a separate message on the thread. Each posting contains both the actual play date (at the very top of the post), and the dates in the campaign calendar that occurred.

If you're interested, I've got quite a bit of info on the campaign on my web page: Gateway Campaign Home Page.

 

[kenobi65]

Session #1 - 1/12/01

(To see a map of the campaign's home country, click here. )

Current Calendar Year: 3174

Our story actually begins five years ago, in the late summer of 3169. A merchant ship from the province of Avila, the Mallorcan Lady, was lost at sea in a furious hurricane. The storm pushed the Mallorcan Lady far off course to the east-southeast, and snapped all of her masts. After drifting at sea for weeks, the ship made landfall on the Eastern Continent. The sailors were quickly discovered by the Dracos, and even more quickly killed – the Draconic sacred texts clearly state that two-legged mammals are abominations, and must be killed on sight.

The Dracos examined the humans’ ship. Not only did the navigational information and maps on board give them a clue as to where the humans came from, but Draconic engineers learned much about shipbuilding (an art that never flowered among the Dracos) from the simple merchant craft.

In the summer of 3173, several attacks took place in the Avilan islands. In each attack, reptilian humanoids swam ashore, brutally massacred the local inhabitants, did some cursory looting, and swam away. By the time of the third attack, the royal army and navy had been set to patrol the Avilan shores. In this attack, lizard-men were seen swimming to shore, pulling rafts full of kobolds and winged lizard-men (draconians). The presence of a Navy ship and a battalion of troops was enough to eventually repel the attack, but not before heavy losses were suffered on both sides. The army was able to capture a draconian lieutenant, and brought him back to Marington, the capitol city of the Great Kingdom of Dorlomin. There, General Elena Winterhawk, the commander of Dorlomin's armed forces, used magic to interrogate the prisoner. She thus learned about the Draconic States, the fate of the Mallorcan Lady, and the Dracos' new jihad against humans. She also learned that the Dracos were beginning to build larger ships in order to mount a more serious invasion of Dorlomin.

At about this same time, Winterhawk discovered a set of magical artifacts, known as the Gateway Stones, in a forgotten storage area in the royal castle at Marington. Over the following year, Winterhawk and several trusted agents used the Gateway to spy on the Draconic States, and discovered the site of the Dracos' main shipyard, just east of the Virdean city of Tun-Kashila.

6/9

Winterhawk has recruited an army to attack this shipyard. The army consists of three forces:
- Her main force, Efreet Team, numbering 800, will attack the shipyard and destroy it. Most of the members of this force are warriors, but the officers include fighters as well as several wizards and clerics.
- Two smaller forces will be sent to disable the signal towers that lie on the seashore, miles to each side of the city. These towers are used by the Dracos to send signal fires quickly from city to city, and would be used to send a distress call. These smaller forces are made up of "adventurers." Spectre Team is taking out the West Tower, while Wraith Team is taking out the East Tower.

The PCs comprise Wraith Team. The team consists of the following individuals:
- Ulfgar, a dwarven "caver", or ranger. He fights with a pair of axes.
- Zeebee, a female human fighter. She uses a massive greatsword.
- Nivek, a human rogue, armed with a well-crafted rapier.
- Whitefire, a human druid and follower of Ehlonna.
- Phadian, a half-elven illusionist and adherent of Navarra Na'Vin, an elven goddess of magic
- Magnus, a charismatic human sorcerer.
- Ming-Jeh, an exotic-looking monk from a distant land. Although short, he wields a very long bow.
- Ian, a human wizard who was once also a monk.

Winterhawk calls a meeting of Wraith and Spectre Teams, as well as the officers of Efreet Team, in a meeting room within the Defense Ministry building in Marington. There, she briefs all of the teams on what she knows about the Draconic States.

There are four major intelligent races of Dracos:
1) Kobolds are the most numerous, and are the commoners of the States. They are very similar to the kobolds that exist in Dorlomin, but do not seem to be as sensitive to light as Dorlominian kobolds.
2) There are also a fair number of lizardfolk. Although Draco lizardfolk are more sophisticated than their Dorlominite cousins, they are still quite brutal. They serve as the shock troops of the Dracos.
3) A third race, draconians, has no counterpart in Dorlomin. They appear to be humanoid dragons, complete with wings and breath weapons. Draconians are the nobility of the Draconic States, and serve as the officers in the armies.
4) Finally, dragons hold the top rung in Draco society. Fortunately, there are not many dragons, but they are extremely dangerous.

There are four Draconic States, each ruled by a different color of dragon: Virdea (green), Cerulea (blue), Nyxal (black), and Vermiloth (red). While the four states continually vie with each other for power, their shared religion prevents them from open warfare. The newfound knowledge of the humans and demi-humans of Dorlomin has forced the four states to co-operate in ways that they never have previously.

Nearly all Dracos wield two unique weapons. The fai is a double-bladed polearm; kobolds use a shorter version (dar-fai), while lizardfolk and draconians use a longer version (gli-fai). The standard missile weapon is a crossbow-like weapon that Winterhawk has dubbed the "pipegun" -- instead of an external bow, the pipe-gun has a powerful spring built into its wooden stock.

Winterhawk will use the Gateway to ferry Efreet and Wraith teams to Gateway Base, a hidden supply cache that the army has built in the jungle to the south of Tun-Kashila. Spectre Team will instead be shuttled to West Base, a smaller cache that places them much closer to their target of the western signal tower.

The plan is that all three teams are to keep a low profile as they move through the jungle, and get within about 5 miles of their target, no later than sunset on the 14th of the month (which will be one night short of a full moon). Winterhawk has scouted out the areas around the two towers, and has picked out appropriate landmarks for those teams. At about 10pm on the 14th, Winterhawk will send signals to the Spectre and Wraith Teams to advance, and all three teams are to hustle to their targets (which should take about an hour).

6/10

The Efreet and Wraith Teams are transported via the Gateway to Gateway Base on the evening of the 10th. Due to the Draconic States being far to the east, this actually puts the teams at the base early in the morning of the 11th. The Spectre Team transfers at the same time to West Base.

6/11 - 6/12

The party spends the 11th and the 12th slogging through fairly heavy jungle. Ulfgar marks the trail as they go, so that the party can find its way back after the mission.

Late in the day on the 12th, as the party breaks out of the heavy foliage, they hear and see signs of an encampment some distance ahead. It turns out to be a kobold hunting party, making camp during a return journey home from a hunting trip. The kobolds hear the party in the woods, and begin to investigate. However, the party quickly dispatches most of the small reptilians. They keep one alive long enough to interrogate, learning that his group was heading back to a village near the eastern signal tower.

6/13 - 6/14

The party then spends the 13th and the 14th sneaking through less densely forested land. They do not encounter anything of note, although they pass near the village of the hunting party. The party is able to get into position for their attack well before the appointed hour.

Upon receiving the signal from General Winterhawk, the party hustles to the tower. They are surprised to see that there is little in the way of outside guards. Several of the spellcasters send their owl companions to scout, but they see nothing extraordinary. Nivek, Ian, Ming-Jeh, and Magnus quietly scale the side of the tower, in hopes of quickly dispatching any crew on the roof who might be able to send a signal on. Meanwhile, Ulfgar, Zeebee, Whitefire, and Phadian approach the front door of the tower.

The group on the roof makes short work of the small contingent of kobolds on the roof, then begins to deliberate on how to disable the signaling device. At about this point, a bonechilling keening can be heard in the night air. The party looks off towards the west, and can see distant flames, from the shipyards. Outlined in the light of the flames is the shape of a flying dragon.

The party suspects that the keening is some sort of alarm, as they now hear activity below them. They open the trap door to the tower below, and see a group of kobolds below them. Ian quickly throws in a Sleep spell, and the party close the door. However, two draconians fly up to the roof from the windows. Joined by a surprisingly tough leader kobold, the Dracos attack the group on the roof. The combat is lengthy, and Nivek is nearly run through several times, but the rooftop opponents are eventually defeated.

Meanwhile, the group downstairs assaults the front door. Ulfgar and Zeebee try a straightforward frontal assault, but the doorway is held by two leader kobolds, backed up by two sorcerer kobolds. The party's fighters are repulsed, and Ulfgar is actually incapacitated. The party eventually manages to get rid of the leader kobolds, but at about this point, a draconian shows up to add to the melee. Phadian takes it upon himself to eliminate the sorcerers; several spells and a flask of Alchemist's Fire later, he finally succeeds.

In the end, the party manages to wipe out the kobolds and draconians without suffering any fatalities. After quickly surveying their handiwork (and looting the draconians and sorcerers for several magical items), the party retreats. They move several kilometers away from the tower, and into a wooded area, before making camp to rest.

6/15 - 6/17

The party spends the next few days retracing their steps back to Gateway Base. They arrive at the base late in the day on the 17th, and are surprised to learn that they are the first ones to return.

 

[kenobi65]

Session #2 - 2/9/01

6/17

Other than the party, the only people already at Gateway Base are the skeleton crew of troops that was left there to guard the supply cache and the Keystone. Jehan, a ranger, leads this skeleton crew.

As the night wears on, however, several members of Efreet Team make it to Gateway Base. There, they tell a horrific tale. They had succeeded in their mission to destroy the shipyard, and were beginning to retreat to the safety of the jungle. As they moved back, they were attacked by a green dragon, accompanied by a large group of draconians. The dragon breathed its toxic gas on Winterhawk's army, and many of the soldiers died on the spot.

Weakened, but still defiant, Elena Winterhawk and several of her officers regrouped and made their stand. The draconians, many of whom were apparently spellcasters, rained lightning and fire down on the humans, and most of the officers fell, too. Finally, the dragon itself appeared to cast a spell on Winterhawk, and she fell unconscious. Then, the dragon swooped down and grabbed the general with one of its foreclaws. The dragon and its draconian guards flew back towards Tun-Kashila, while a large group of kobolds and lizardmen moved out from the city towards the shipyards. The few survivors fled into the jungle, and have made their way back here while trying to evade the roving search bands that have spread into the jungle.

The party discusses what to do next. They believe that, in order to re-activate the Gateway, they will need to rescue General Winterhawk and bring her back to the Gateway. The party discusses with Jehan the idea of moving the Gateway Base (so that the Dracos would have more difficulty in finding it), but the young ranger seems to be incapable of making a decision. Additionally, the other survivors are fairly panicked by the notion that no one at the Base can re-open the Gateway and get them home.

6/18

Shortly after dawn, a very haggard pair of survivors stumbles into Gateway Base. Lieutenant Genevieve Firehawk has suffered a severed right arm (cut off just below the elbow by a blow from one of the draconians). Her wound was healed by Kerrith, a young cleric of St. Cuthbert who then accompanied her back to the base. However, Kerrith is low level, and was only able to stop the bleeding of the wound -- he could not regenerate the lost limb.

Genevieve elaborates on the story told by the other survivors. After Kerrith had revived Genevieve, the two of them searched the battlefield. They found where General Winterhawk had made her stand, and there discovered a broken Gateway Key as well as the general's sword, dropped when she fell. She says that both she and Winterhawk were carrying Keys, devices that would allow them to open the Gateway from any location. Based on the fact that it looked as though Winterhawk's key was ground under a boot heel, Genevieve guesses that, when the tide of battle had turned against them, Winterhawk broke her own Key just before the dragon knocked her out. Genevieve attempted to trigger her Key once she and Kerrith got away from the battlefield, but she discovered that it had been broken during the battle. She shows the pieces to the PCs, but the enchantment is gone, so it impossible to repair.

Genevieve agrees with the party that the only remaining way to re-open the Gateway is to retrieve General Winterhawk. Genevieve recommends that the party go to Tun-Kashila and see if they can locate the general, rescue her, and bring her back to the Base. From here, she would be able to use the Keystone to re-open the Gateway.

Genevieve describes the terrain as well as she can to the PCs -- it appears that the party will need to travel through the jungle for three days, then along the river for another two days before reaching Tun-Kashila. She then gives the party a sword that she had been carrying on her back: the Silver Scalpel, a beautiful, enchanted bastard sword that belongs to General Winterhawk. She suggests that the party bring it with them to return to the General, but, in the meantime, that someone in the party might as well use the sword. As she says this, she refers to the general as "my mother," causing a few eyebrows to raise. Zeebee is elected to use the Scalpel.

The party decides to stay at the Base through this day, and depart the following morning. They go through the Base's supplies, and stock themselves up for the trip. Meanwhile, Genevieve has taken charge of the Base, and brought the survivors under control. She agrees with the party that it would be a good idea to move the base, and will lead the survivors to move it one day's march to the southwest.

6/19

The party departs Gateway Base, heading towards the northwest. Late that day, as the party moves along, several party members notice a deep rumbling coming from underground. Suddenly, two gigantic insects (ankhegs) burst out of the ground and attack the party. Ming-Jeh, Phadian, and Zeebee team up to kill one of the giant bugs, with Zeebee severing its head with a single blow from the Silver Scalpel (this leads Zeebee to state that this is a fine weapon, indeed). Then, Magnus, Ian, and Ulfgar finish off the other one, which Whitefire had successfully slowed down by Entangling it.

6/20

The party continues to travel through the jungle. Around mid-day, the party stumbles upon a Draco search party: a group of a half-dozen lizardfolk, led by a draconian.

Whitefire quickly casts an Entangle spell. The spell encompasses the entire group of Dracos, although some manage to break free. The draconian is one of those who breaks free; after doing so, he flies towards the party and uses his chlorine-gas breath weapon. Ulfgar and Whitefire are in the range of the hideous gas, and, while Ulfgar suffers its full effects, Whitefire manages to dive behind a tree at the last moment. This particular tree does not seem to be affected by the caustic gas (which surprises Whitefire a great deal, given that all the surrounding vegetation is scorched).

A moment later, the draconian falls to the ground, felled by a combination of magic missiles (from Phadian and Magnus) and a pipe-bow shot from Zeebee. Ian casts a Sleep spell, which drops some of the lizardmen. Several lizardmen charge party members, only to miss in their attacks. Ming-Jeh impresses the group by swatting a pipe-bow bolt out of the air a moment before it would have hit him. Eventually, all the lizardfolk are slain. In searching the dead, the party finds a pair of potions and a magical quiver.

Whitefire examines his tree further. It appears to be a variety of lime tree, and is completely unscathed from the draconian's breath weapon. The druid quickly harvests several dozen small limes from the tree, and explains to the party that he believes eating the limes may give the party members some degree of temporary resistance to these breath weapons. Needless to say, the rest of the party eagerly takes the limes.

6/21

Late in the day, the party reaches the river. Ian looks for any sign of boat traffic on the river, in hopes that the party might be able to sneak into the city using this as a cover. Unfortunately, he finds none.

Whitefire spots a crocodile in the river, and proceeds to speak to it. He learns that the croc does not like to go too far down river, as the water gets polluted near the Dracos' villages. The crocodile further explains that the Dracos like to hunt for crocodiles, so he tries to stay out of their way.

6/22 - 6/23

The party proceeds north, following the east bank of the river. During their travel on the 22nd, they break out of the heavier jungle, and begin to have to move more carefully. In the afternoon on the 23rd, Nivek hears something behind the party: they turn and see a search party of kobolds and a draconian bearing down on them.

Sleep spells from Ian and Magnus make short work of many of the kobolds. The draconian sorcerer uses his gli-fai to shoot a beam of reddish energy at Phadian. The party focuses its missile attacks on the draconian, who is hanging back and using his own missiles and spells. During the fight, the draconian is struck by a throwing-stone, which apparently came from behind him. The party fells the draconian with magic missiles; as they begin to stand down, the draconian stands back up (he was apparently just playing dead). However, he does not appear to be immune to mundane missiles, and soon perishes in a hail of crossbow fire. The party discovers that the draconian was wearing a Brooch of Shielding, which explains his immunity to the magic missiles. They also find several more potions, a magical dar-fai that was wielded by the lead kobold, and the draconian's weapon, a kal-gli-fai.

The party then looks for the source of the thrown stone. Several small humanoid figures proceed to come out of the brush. They look like gnomes, but they walk on all fours (on the knuckles of their hands as well as on their feet). In thickly-accented Gnomish, they introduce themselves to the party, and welcome them as "those that were prophesied of." They lead the party to a concealed tunnel entrance, then down into a series of tunnels.

The group travels for some time in the tunnels -- as the party members are considerably larger than their gnomish guides, there are many tight spots in the tunnels for the party. After what seems to be several hours of travel, the group arrives at a large underground settlement of these gnomes, all of whom move about on all fours. All of the gnomes crowd around the party, and are very joyous at their arrival.

The party is led into a cavern, and given food and drink. After a few minutes, several elderly gnomes enter the room. The leader of these elders is a venerable gnomish woman named Senki. Senki tells the party that the "Burrowers," as they call themselves, have been expecting the party for several days, ever since a female human captive (clearly the general) was brought into Tun-Kashila. She further explains that the Burrowers do not know how they came to be in this land, but that they do believe that they originated from elsewhere. Their holy texts make it clear that they are to never rise up on their two feet, for that would bring doom upon them all from the Dracos. Their holy texts also have told them that, someday, heroes who boldly stand on two legs would come to this land. The texts command the Burrowers to provide these heroes with any help they need, as the heroes will fight the Dracos and, eventually, emancipate the Burrowers.

Senki says that the Burrowers are the drudges and servants of society in Tun-Kashila. They have tunnels and crawl-spaces that honeycomb the city, as well as the surrounding countryside. They use these tunnels to access any place in the city, where they are expected to perform all the Dracos' menial tasks. It is from these tunnels that they have observed what has happened to General Winterhawk. The general is still alive, but has endured much.

 

[kenobi65]

Session #3 - 3/16/01

6/23

The Burrowers believe that they were not originally residents of this land -- their teachings tell them that they were brought here from a land far across the sea (a "land of warm hills, soft winds, and fair skies," according to their teachings). The reason for their transplantation is lost to them, but their teachings do promise that, one day, beings from their old homeland will come and redeem them.

The teachings are crystal clear on one point: the Burrowers were to never rise up on just their two feet: it is strictly taboo for a Burrower to ever lift both hands from the ground and stand upright. The Burrowers understand Draco society and religion fairly well, and comprehend that breaking their taboo would result in the death of the offending Burrower, and perhaps the death of all Burrowers. Senki confides that most Burrowers suspect that walking upright was something that the Burrowers were able to do in their old homeland. She also suspects that the senior Dracos (the brighter dragons, at least) may recognize that the Burrowers are, in fact, a two-legged race. However, as the Burrowers serve an important function in the Draconic cities, the Dracos have not tried to destroy the Burrowers.

Burrowers are the drudges of Draconic society. They clean, they perform menial tasks, they keep the basic functions of the cities working. In order to do this, they have a series of tunnels and crawl-spaces that honeycomb Tun-Kashila (and every other major Draconic city, for that matter). The combination of low social status, very short physical stature (crouched over, a Burrower is shorter even than a kobold), and keeping to the tunnels and crawl-spaces until needed leads to Dracos generally ignoring Burrowers, even if they're in the same room.

While the Burrowers' oral traditions tell them that the "Upright Ones" (i.e., the party) are to be the Burrowers' redemption, this is a matter of some debate. The Burrowers are willing to give the party any aid they can, but they are concerned that, if the Dracos were to learn that the party used their tunnels, that they would be killed in retribution. Some of the elders suggest that they might be able to convince the Dracos that the party forced their way into the tunnels, but this is not a universally-held belief.

Also, even if the entire population of Tun-Kashila's Burrowers were to be emancipated (via the Gateway), they believe that there are Burrower colonies in other Draconic cities. Senki, in particular, is concerned that, if their colony were to vanish in the wake of Winterhawk's rescue, these other colonies might be destroyed, again in retribution. However, these Burrowers do not have solid evidence of the existance of other colonies, just their oral traditions.

Senki summons Cerila, a Burrower scout, to tell the party about the general. Cerila tells the party that the Burrowers observed Avranath, the green dragon baron of Tun-Kashila, return to his throne room with a fair-haired human woman nine nights ago (late in the night of the 14th / 15th). The Burrowers have several tunnels that lead into Avranath's throne room, and have quietly observed all that has happened to her. At that point, the woman was unconscious, but the baron's draconian lackeys quickly revived her. The dragon was in a fit of rage, and the draconians had to frequently restrain him from simply killing the woman outright. He interrogated her and threatened her, but she would tell him nothing. Eventually, Arvanath had his lackeys manacle Winterhawk to the wall of the throne room, where she has remained ever since.

(Cerila also confides that Arvanath is not the brightest of dragons -- the Burrowers have a nickname for him, in Gnomish, which roughly translates to "Stupid-Boy.")

Seven days ago (in the afternoon of the 16th) , Tanalkazir showed up. She is an older, higher-ranking dragon, the mother of Avranath, and the one-time baroness of Tun-Kashila. She berated Avranath at length for allowing the "abominations" to destroy the shipyards. Tanalkazir briefly interrogated Winterhawk herself, even using magic to attempt to coerce the general, but to no avail -- the human woman simply would not respond. Tanalkazir then berated Avranath even more, accusing him of damaging the woman in his rage.

Tanalkazir then told Avranath that his only hope for redeeming his status would be to successfully learn how Winterhawk's army managed to get to Virdea without being noticed. However, she warned him, he was not allowed to kill or maim Winterhawk until he could extract this information, and then have it deliberated upon by the Virdean Council. After delivering these orders, she departed.

Even angrier now, Avranath then lashed out at his draconian lackeys, killing two of them in his fury. He ordered the rest of them to work day and night to find a way to force Winterhawk to divulge her information. "Anything is permissible," Arvanath told them, "so long as it does not leave a mark."

The draconian sorcerers and clerics tried their own enchantment magics on the general, but, again, she managed to resist them. So, they have spent the last few days concocting potions intended to force a victim to tell the truth. However, the Burrower drudges who were left to brew the potions added a few extra ingredients -- thus, although the potions did make Elena sick to her stomach, they did not have the desired effect.

Senki then summons Hewdos, the chief of the Burrowers' Tunnel Guild. She asks Hewdos to provide the party with a map showing them the routes they can take to get to where Winterhawk is being held.

Hewdos and his apprentice, Suram, return after about 2 hours with a map. Hewdos is apologetic -- he says that they have numerous ways that a Burrower could get to Winterhawk, but many of the tunnels are simply far too small for humans to fit through. In fact, the primary route that the Burrowers have been using to observe Avranath's chamber is impossible for humans to use. Instead, he has laid out what he considers to be the only feasible route -- even so, it has several obstacles:

1) Th party will need to climb a 30' cavern wall -- the Burrowers climb it using a light rope, but the existing rope is far too light for humans to use.
2) The party will also need to pass through two open areas. The Burrowers do this all the time, but the Dracos rarely, if ever, notice the tiny Burrowers. Because the party would be much more obvious, Hewdos and Suram built a route that minimized these "open transits," but they couldn't eliminate them entirely. The first one requires the party to cross about 50' of open space in the foyer of the Dracos' main military school. The second one is a crossing of about 100' of open space in the back of a warehouse.
3) There is a damp cavern that the party will need to go through. While it is not out in the open, the caven is one of a series that the Dracos use for sewage. Thus, there is a slow-moving stream of rather nasty water that the party will need to cross.

Finally, Hewdos's route contains a exit that the party could use to get completely out of the city after rescuing the general. If the party cannot backtrack to that exit, there is another way out: below the throne room is the "nursery," a chamber used by female dragons to lay eggs and rear young dragons. The nursery is currently unused, as there is no female dragon in residence at Tun-Kashila. Further, adult male dragons, such as Arvanath, are prohibited from even entering the nursery. There is an entrance into the nursery from the tunnels, but it is currently barricaded (although the barricades could be removed if necessary).

Senki and the other elders decide to send several of their scouts along with the party. Bramir and Zek, the two scouts who originally found the party, will travel with them, while Cirila and Tahir will range ahead of the party.

The party debates their strategy, particularly what time of the day they want to reach the throne room. They eventually agree that they want to get to the throne room late at night, when there will likely be few inhabitants there. As it is several hours of travel through the tunnels to get to the throne room, this would entail leaving from the Burrowers' cavern at mid-to-late evening. Since the party's spellcasters have largely depleted their spells, the group agrees to wait until the following evening to depart.

6/24

After resting for the day in the Burrowers' cavern, the party leaves after dinner. After a half-hour or so in the tunnels, they come to the "climbing wall." The party sends one of the Burrower scouts up the wall with their rope, and the scout ties the rope to a piton at the top. Slowly, the party climbs up the rope, although several members have some difficulty. Whitefire decides that climbing would likely be hazardous to his health, so he climbs into his Bag of Holding and has himself hoisted up.

Another half-hour or so of walking brings the party to the open passage through the foyer of the military school. Two kobold guards are sitting in chairs in the foyer, passing the time. After a brief conference, Ian casts Sleep on the two guards, and the party quietly moves past them and back into the tunnels.

Another 45 minutes brings the party to the second open passage, through the storage room. The advance scouts bring back bad news; there are five draconian soldiers holed up in the storage room, playing cards. After scoping out the room, the party realizes that, if they move silently enough, they may be able to use the crates and barrels stored in the room as cover for most of their transit. Although this would still leave the party with some open space to cross, the space is small enough that Phadian can cover it with an illusion, to make the party appear as a large group of Burrowers.

With their Burrower guides, the party makes its way behind the crates. Phadian casts his spell, and the disguised party begins to head for the safety of the tunnel. However, just as the front of the party reaches the tunnel entrance, one of the draconian cardplayers sits up, sniffs the air, and says, "Hey, I smell something. It's the same thing I smelled last week at the shipyards…abominations!"

As the draconians and the party begin to react, one fast-moving draconian heads for Phadian (still disguised by his Silent Image) and breathes on him. The party acts quickly: Ian successfully Charms one of the draconians, then Magnus uses Color Spray to knock two of them unconscious (unfortunately, one of the two was the charmed one). Nivek considers Commanding one of the draconians to "sleep," but then realizes that he doesn't know how to say "sleep" in Draconic. The remaining draconians are quickly slain.

When the charmed draconian comes to, Ian convinces him that a fight had broken out among the card-players, and that they had all killed each other. After Ian counsels him to keep his mouth shut, lest he be charged with murder, the charmed draconian flees the room. With the help of the Burrowers, the party arranges the dead draconians around the table, to look as if they had killed each other. In searching the room, the party finds quite a bit of monetary treasure on the card table -- they leave a little bit behind to support their ruse, but take most of it with them.

The party moves through the tunnels for another half-hour or so. The Burrower scouts tell them that they are approaching the "damp cavern," so Cirila and Tahir range ahead to scout it out. After a half-hour passes, with no sign of Cirila or Tahir, the party cautiously moves forward. They find that the "damp cavern" is a long, narrow cave; the closer end of the cavern is dry, but the far end contains a fetid pool. Ulfgar can clearly see the footprints of the missing scouts, heading into the center of the cavern.

Despite this, Ulfgar decides to slowly move forward along the west wall, using his darkvision to peer ahead. He moves as far as the pool, but does not see anything unusual. Eventually, the party decides to use a sunrod for light and move into the room, following the Burrowers' trail. As they approach the pool, they can see something floating in it. Upon closer examination, they can see that it is a Burrower body. Meanwhile, Ulfgar again has moved off by himself to the west, searching that area.

As the main body of the party stares in shock at the floating body, a large sewer-dwelling otyugh shambles out of the stream to the east and attacks. It strikes Ming-Jeh with one of its tentacles, and begins to constrict the young monk. As the party begins to pepper the foul beast with missiles and spells, a smaller otyugh pops out of the western stream, right next to the hapless Ulfgar, and begins to pound on him.

The larger otyugh suffers several crossbow wounds, as well as a Dazzle spell, before Zeebee manages to splash into the pool and finish it off with the general's sword. Meanwhile, Ian helps Ulfgar out with a couple of well-placed crossbow bolts, before the angry ranger hits the smaller otyugh with both axes, killing it.

In the aftermath of the melee, the party discovers that it is indeed Tahir's gnawed-upon body floating in the pond; they can only assume that Cirila had already been eaten by the otyughs. At the back of the cavern, the party follows the tunnel as it leads up and out of the slimy water.

The party spends another hour or so working its way through the tunnels, until they reach a small chamber. The Burrower scouts quietly explain that this chamber overlooks Arvanath's throne room. A cunningly-woven tapestry covers a hole between the spy chamber and the throne room; while individuals in the chamber can see activity in the throne room, those in the throne room see the tapestry as opaque (and thus, cannot see the spy chamber). The chamber is about 10 feet above the floor of the throne room. As the party peers out, they can see General Winterhawk, apparently unconscious, manacled to the far wall, near the passage to the nursery.

More importantly, they see Arvanath sitting in another corner of the room, yelling at two draconians and a kobold. He complains that they are completely incompetent at potionmaking, and had better figure out some new method for extracting information from the human, and quickly. He then announces that he is going for a nighttime hunt, to clear his head, and flies out of the cavern through a "chimney" in the ceiling.

This leaves the two draconians, the kobold, and the general in the room. A moment later, Arvanath's booming voice can be heard from the top of the chimney: "And have someone check the sewers! They're backing up again, and I can smell them in the throne room!" For several moments, the three Draco lackeys look stunned. Then, the draconians begin to berate the kobold, who slowly slinks towards the unconscious Winterhawk.

The party quickly formulates a plan. Phadian casts a Silent Image in front of the spy chamber, intending to use it to make that space appear to be empty. Then, several party members quietly drop from the spy chamber into the throne room. Ian quaffs a potion of Invisibility and begins to move towards the kobold (who is farther away from the spy chamber than the draconians). Nivek, having used Change Self to appear as a draconian, moves out of the cover of the Silent Image, and successfully Commands the draconian sorcerer to "sleep." Magnus hits the draconian soldier with a Shocking Grasp, and the melee is on.

Thanks to the element of surprise, the Dracos are never even able to react. The kobold attempts to hit Ian with a Magic Missile, but the ex-monk successfully punches the kobold, disrupting the spell. Nivek manages to unlock Winterhawk's manacles; he and Ian then revive the tortured general.

Meanwhile, as Whitefire moves towards the doorway out of the throne room (to a guard room), the door opens, and a surprised draconian guard yells out an alarm. The guard moves into the room, and is quickly engaged in combat, first by Whitefire, then by several other party members. The guard is dispatched, and the doors locked.

After several healing potions and spells, and a long pull on a waterskin, Winterhawk thanks the party for their rescue. She quickly tells them that she knows an incantation that will open the Gateway to their present location, but that the party will need to give her five minutes to cast it. At about this point, alarm bells begin to sound in the halls outside the throne room. From up in the spy chamber, Bramir and Zek call down to the party, and tell them to head for the nursery. The party, along with General Winterhawk, thus race down the ramp into the nursery.

 

[Old One]

Welcome Back!

I was wondering if the Gateway Campaign would every show up again...glad to see you back on the boards!

Old One

 

[kenobi65]

Thanks for the welcome back, Old One. I hope to get all of the notes posted here by Friday, if not before.

 

[kenobi65]

Session #4 - 4/27/01

The party sets up a defensive position in the nursery. The ramp down from the throne room curves, so they find a position that lets them see as far up the ramp as they can. General Winterhawk finds a corner of the nursery that is not visible from the ramp, and begins the five-minute incantation that will open the Gateway.

After less than a minute, the party can begin to hear orders being shouted in Draconian from up the ramp. A few moments later, they can hear quick, light footsteps on the ramp. A group of 8 kobold guards heads down the ramp. They fire their pipe-bows once each, once they can see the party, before continuing down the ramp to engage the party in melee combat. The party responds by trying to cut down as many of the kobolds as they can with their own missiles. In the end, the party makes quick work of the kobolds. They then quickly stack the kobolds' bodies up, to act as an impromptu defense wall.

About a minute later, Nivek and Phadian can hear the sound of wingbeats from the ramp. Three draconian guards come flying down the ramp and into the room. While this combat lasts longer, again, the party triumphs, and adds the draconian's bodies to their wall.

After this combat, Phadian decides it would be better if he stands guard directly next to General Winterhawk. This quickly turns out to have been a good idea, as a pair of draconians very suddenly appear in the middle of the room, about 20' in the air. The two of them fall to the floor with a thud, as a piece of smoking parchment (clearly, the scroll that they had just used) floats to the ground.

One of these draconians is a sorcerer, armed with a kal-gli-fai. He attempts to use his weapon to electrocute Whitefire, but the druid had had the foresight to have cast a Resist Elements spell on himself, and he suffers little effect from the electical bolts. Meanwhile, the cleric draconian tries (and fails) to affect one of the party with a Hold Person spell. Again, the party manages to defeat the draconians, and drags their bodies off to the pile.

By this point, Winterhawk is over half-way through the incantation. Her voice is cracking, and she seems to be becoming physically drained by the effort. Phadian casts several minor beneficial spells on her, in hopes of keeping her going though to the end of the spell.

As Winterhawk nears completion of the spell, the party can hear Arvanath himself bellowing up in the throne room. A final assault by the Dracos consists of four lizardman guards, who climb up the pile of their dead compatriots to attack the party. Eventually, this offensive, too, is turned aside.

By now, the party can see a shimmering beginning to appear in the air in front of Winterhawk. As she completes the incantation, she nearly collapses from the effort; however, the Gateway does indeed spring into existance. The party quickly hustles through, and Winterhawk then closes the Gateway with a command word.

The party finds itself back in the inner courtyard of the palace at Marington. It is mid-evening on the 24th. They see a group of Marington guards ready to shoot them with crossbows -- behind these guards are several robed officials. Once the guards see that it's members of the army, rather than Dracos, that have come through the Gateway, they stand down. Then, the robed officials come forward, shouting questions at General Winterhawk. She brushes her way past them, walking with a purpose, and signals to the party that they should follow her. At the back of the crowd, Winterhawk spots a young, red-haired half-elven woman. She flags her down, and gives her several orders. The general tells the officials that she is going back through the Gateway in one hour to retrieve the rest of her force. Then, she leaves the courtyard, the party following behind.

They quickly head into the army's administration building, and up several flights of stairs. They proceed down a hallway, to a doorway flanked by two guards, who look surprised as they salute the general. Winterhawk tells them that, other than the party, only "Rory" and "Aryl" are to be admitted. She then goes through the doorway, and indicates that the party should follow her.

The party proceeds into the general's well-appointed office. Winterhawk quickly strides to the back wall of the office, and presses a panel, revealing a concealed door into her apartments. She and the party proceed through, and the weary general collapses into an armchair.

She sighs, and then thanks the party for coming back to get her. "I really didn't think I'd ever make it back here," she admits. "That redhead, Rory, is my assistant. She's gone off to get an old friend of mine, a cleric, to heal us up. In the meantime, we need to make some plans." The party quickly fills Winterhawk in on the events of the past few weeks, including the fact that Genevieve Firehawk, the general's daughter, is still alive.

Winterhawk tells the party that it is her intent to go back through the Gateway and rescue the remaining members of Efreet Team, then to use the Gateway to go to the West Base and see if Spectre Team ever made it back. She tells the party that she will need their help on this mission. Recognizing that the party's spellcasters are nearly tapped out, she sends one of them into her office to retrieve a small box from her desk. The box contains four nearly-empty wands, which she hands out to the party's spellcasters to use in the rescue mission. She then has Zeebee help her into a suit of full plate armor, and Zeebee regretfully gives the general back her bastard sword.

Rory and Aryl arrive. Rory has brought a tray of food and drink for the general and the party. Aryl is a very tall man, in his early 50s, wearing a holy symbol of Heironious. Aryl chides Winterhawk for having had him rousted from his house, but the party can see that there is a friendship between the general and the cleric. Aryl quickly heals Winterhawk, then several party members who were beat up. Finally, he gives the party several curing potions and scrolls, just in case they need them.

Having had a bite to eat, and being in as good a shape as possible, Winterhawk leads the party back downstairs to the gateway (remembering, at the last minute, to retrieve the only remaining Gate Key from her desk). As the party heads back into the courtyard (which is now full of soldiers and government officials), a very important-looking man steps into Winterhawk's path. He says, "General, I demand that you tell me what is going on here." Winterhawk replies, "Lord Prime Minister, I have a mission to complete. I will gladly brief you once I return, but, in the meantime, get out of my way!" Cowed, the prime minister steps aside, and the party proceeds to the Gateway.

Winterhawk opens the Gateway up to Gateway Base in Virdea. There, it is still the middle of the night, and the party surprises the ranger Jehan, who is on guard duty. The base, as it turns out, has been unmolested since Firehawk moved it on the 19th. The general has a quick reunion with her daughter as the camp is quickly struck. Winterhawk again opens the Gateway back up to Marington, and the party, along with the base personnel and Efreet Team, go back through. Before Winterhawk goes through, she pulls the Keystone up from the ground, and brings it back with her.

Back in Marington, clerics begin attending to the bedraggled members of Efreet Team. After waiting for the Gateway to recharge, Winterhawk again opens it, this time to West Base. The party goes through, and enters a strange scene. They are in a smaller version of Gateway Base, but there is no one alive there. The body of a male human lies near a small campfire, in a pool of fresh blood, with numerous pipe-bow bolts piercing his body. At the edge of the camp, the party can see two more bodies, but these are wrapped in canvas, and appear to have been dead for some time. They can see, off to the north, lights flickering amongst the trees, and can hear the sound of combat.

The general and the party quickly hustle to the scene of the fighting. There, they discover three members (of the original eight) of Spectre Team, engaged in melee with seven draconians and a small green dragon (small being relative, as the dragon is still the size of a large horse). Two other members of Spectre Team already lie dead on the forest floor. The party joins the fight, with Ian using his new Lightning Bolt wand, and Phadian using his new Magic Missile wand, to beat on the dragon. Nivek uses the Hold Person wand to immobilize the draconian sorcerer, and Whitefire tries out his new kal-gli-fai on the dragon. Ming-Jeh closes on the dragon, and suffers several nasty bites from it in the process. Zeebee goes to help out the Spectre cleric, who is surrounded by draconians. After a fierce fight, the draconians, and finally the dragon as well, are dropped, and the party helps Spectre Team carry their dead back through the Gateway.

Winterhawk instructs the party to get a good night's sleep, and meet her in her office at 1pm the following afternoon.

6/25

The party returns to Winterhawk's offices the following afternoon. General Winterhawk is there, as well as Genevieve. The general tells the party that her first order of business is to take care of the Burrowers at Tun-Kashila. She asks Phadian to cast an illusion of the Burrower's great hall, so that she can picture it well enough to open the Gateway to there.

The party accompanies Winterhawk through the Gateway to the Burrowers' caves. There is a lot of commotion there; while the Burrowers are happy to see the party again, they also tell the party that the Dracos have been asking a lot of questions about the party's use of the Burrowers' tunnels. Senki, the Burrower elder, tells the party that the Burrowers have been telling the Dracos that the party had forced their way through the tunnels, but she is not convinced that the Dracos believe this story.

There is much disagreement among the Burrowers as to what to do next. Many of them wish to flee their tunnels, and take Winterhawk up on her offer to take the Burrowers back to Dorlomin. Others are concerned that this might doom the Burrowers in other Draco cities, since fleeing in this manner would make it clear that the Burrowers had aided the humans.

Eventually, Winterhawk and Senki go off by themselves and discuss the options. It is decided that Winterhawk and the party will take the children and the infirm back with them to Marington immediately; Winterhawk will return via the Gateway on the following day to retrieve the remaining Burrowers, who will have spent the day making it appear as though the Burrowers had been massacred.

Thus, the party brings dozens of young and infirm Burrowers back through the Gateway. Winterhawk tells the party that she has been in touch with several gnomish clans in Dorlomin, who are willing to help find homes for the Burrowers.

After all of this, Winterhawk takes the party back up to her offices. There, she presents them with two service medals, promotions to the rank of lieutenant in the army reserve, and a monetary token of her gratitude for their service.

 

[kenobi65]

Session #5 - 5/25/01

7/13

Nearly three weeks have passed since the party's return to Dorlomin, when each of the party's members receive a messenger from General Winterhawk. The messenger gives each of them orders to report to the general's office on the following morning for a new mission. The party members get in touch with each other, and agree to meet up for dinner that evening to catch up, and discuss what might come next.

Dinner is at an inn, the Gallant Knight, at which several of the party have been staying. As the meal proceeds, the party notices that many of the inn's patrons seem to be staring at them. They also notice that the innkeeper seems to be discussing the party with an attractive female adventurer who is sitting at the bar.

Eventually, the innkeeper, a lanky, large-nosed older man named Andric, comes over to the party's table. He apologizes for staring at them, but tells them that it is an honor for him to have "the heroes of the battle of Tun-Kashila" here at his inn. He is in the process of telling the party that their dinner is on the house, when he is interrupted by a boisterous, well-dressed man with a Marnais accent. The Marnais man insists on paying for dinner for the "heroes," then proceeds to sit down at their table and loudly sing their praises to the rest of the inn's patrons. He indicates that "all of Dorlomin owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to these brave soldiers," and that "all the bards of Marington are already competing with each other to see which one can write an epic that does their deeds justice."

Eventually, the party manages to get this gentleman to introduce himself -- his name is Irlian. As he continues to embellish the story of the party's exploits (with only mild protestations from the party themselves), the female adventurer from the bar makes her way to the party's table. She asks to sit down, and introduces herself as Rinna. She manages to wrest the conversation away from Irlian, and asks the party's members to tell the story in their own words. She very attentively listens, and asks questions of each of them regarding their roles in the battle.

Irlian eventually decides to take his leave of the party, but not before promising that, if he can ever be of service to the party, that they contact him. He leaves them with a calling card, which indicates that he is "undersecretary to the Governor of Marnes."

Rinna, however, stays at the party's table. They learn that she is a traveling adventurer, most skilled with a sword (a longsword hangs from her belt), but tends to operate on her own. She makes much of her living acting as a guard on merchant caravans -- she has just come into town on such a caravan, which she had defended from a band of several dozen hobgoblin raiders. The male members of the party, particularly Ming-Jeh, seem quite impressed with the young woman.

Whitefire asks Rinna how she came to not be drafted into the army, when many adventurers (such as the party) seem to have been unable to avoid it. She explains that, while Marington is her nominal base of operations, that she is only here infrequently, and spends much of her time traveling with caravans. Thus, she was simply out of town when the draft board convened.

Eventually, the party decides to turn in, as they have an early morning ahead of them. Rinna bids them all goodnight, and tells them that she will probably be leaving town shortly -- she has some friends in Athlaoigh that she wishes to visit, and is looking for a caravan that she can take in that direction.

7/14

The party meets Winterhawk in her office. She starts with some bad news: although she and her troops were able to evacuate most of the rest of the Burrowers (on the day after the original rescue), in the intervening day, the Dracos had imprisoned, then executed Senki and several other elders, as an example to the other Burrowers. The Burrowers had related to Winterhawk that the elders had steadfastly maintained that the party had forced their way through the tunnels, and it seems that the executions were punishment more for stupidity or cowardice than for sedition.

She also tells them, briefly, that the past few weeks have been challenging. While King Kenton is unwavering in his support of the war, some of the provincial governors are unhappy with the massive cost in lives of the Battle of Tun-Kashila. For that reason, it may be some time before the army is able to engage in any kind of real offensive action against the Dracos. So, she has been forced to focus more on intelligence-gathering and guerrilla missions against specific targets.

She has such a mission in mind for the Wraiths. Some months ago, she discovered a large military base called Agleshka on the Nyxalian coastline, on the northwestern corner of the Draconic continent (i.e., the point closest to Dorlomin). She believes that this base was used to launch last summer's naval attacks against Dorlomin, in which thousands of lizardmen swam across the ocean, pulling rafts that carried draconian officers. When she last observed Agleshka, about three months ago, it was very quiet and nearly deserted. She wants the party to go to the base, and make observations as to what (if any) activity is going on there.

The party discusses their plan, and agrees that it would make the most sense to transport to Nyxal shortly after sunset (the moon will be nearly full this evening). Given the time difference, this would have the party transporting (via the Gateway) shortly after noon. General Winterhawk then spends the rest of the morning training Ian, Magnus, Phadian, and Whitefire in how to use the Gateway. There is already a Keystone hidden about 10 miles from Agleshka, which the party will use to transport to the area -- Winterhawk tells Whitefire and Ulfgar about the landmarks that will guide their trip from the Keystone to Agleshka. Winterhawk also gives the party a Gate Key, in case they need to get back more quickly.

After a noon meal with the general, and a quick trip to the temple of Pelor to stock up on curing potions, the party transfers to Nyxal. The Keystone is hidden in a copse of trees in one of Nyxal's boundless swamps. The party slowly moves through the moonlit swamp, trying to stay on the patches of higher (and drier) ground.

After about three hours of such travel, Ulfgar notices that the hillock that the party is about to climb up is actually moving. The hillock is actually a creature called a "tendriculos" -- a huge, animated, carnivorous plant. The tendriculos quickly wraps one of its woody tendrils around Whitefire, and then grabs Ulfgar with its stick-filled mouth, proceeding to chew on the enraged dwarf. Meanwhile, the rest of the party pepper the behemoth with various missile weapons; with each blow, the creature lets out an unholy howl. However, the party quickly notices that the wounds they are inflicting on it seem to be slowly closing back up, perhaps indicating that the monster can regenerate.

Nivek attempts to sneak up on the creature's left flank, but it lashes out with a tendril and grabs the rogue tightly. The tendriculos looks like it is about to chew on Ulfgar some more, when Zeebee rushes forward and slashes at it with her greatsword. This injury incapacitates the tendriculos, which then releases its hold on Whitefire and Nivek. Several party members pour flaming oil on the monster, but it seems to regenerate from the burns, as well. Eventually, Nivek pours acid on the creature, and it finally dies.

As the party's clerics tend to the wounded (particularly Ulfgar, who was quite badly hurt), both Phadian and Ming-Jeh suddenly hear voices (specifically, voices speaking Draconian) heading towards the party. Not really wishing to immediately engage another opponent, the party hides behind the fallen tendriculos, and Whitefire covers them with an Obscuring Mist.

As the party waits in the mist, Magnus suddenly realizes that he is face-to-face with a red-scaled draconian, who is creeping through the fog. The battle begins, and several party members are quite suddenly injured by a blast of flame from above -- another red draconian has flown above the party, and has used his breath weapon on the center of the unnatural fog. The first draconian then uses his own breath weapon, affecting many of the same members of the party. Ian was unlucky enough to bear the brunt of both blasts, and stumbles away from the melee, barely clinging to consciousness.

The draconian who struck at the party from above then begins to descend towards the area he had just flamed. However, in the meantime, Nivek had scrambled up to the top of the dead tendriculos, which gives him a sneak attack on the draconian as it drops past him. The battle against the two draconians goes on for some time, as the reptiles prove to be quite skilled warriors; however, the party does eventually prevail.

Meanwhile, a large contingent of red-skinned kobolds has been assailing the party's rearguard. Phadian eliminates many of the small Dracos with a Sleep spell, followed by a Flaming Sphere, while Ming-Jeh, Ulfgar, and Zeebee take care of the rest in hand-to-hand combat.

After again patching up their wounded (and using up many of the curing potions), the party takes a few minutes to arrange the scene of the battle, so it might appear that the Dracos died fighting the tendriculos. The party then proceeds towards Agleshka.

After another hour or so of travel, the party happens upon a roadway, heading in the direction of Agleshka. The road is covered with gravel, but Ulfgar quickly sees that many wheeled carts or wagons have passed on this road, pulled by both reptiles and hooved mammals. As travel through the swamp has been fairly slow, the party eventually agrees to cautiously travel on the road, using Magnus' and Ian's owl familiars as aerial sentries.

While the party travels upon the road, they are suddenly attack by a shambling mound that had been hiding in the ditch on the roadside. Although the combat is over quickly, the creature again manages to beat up several party members before it is destroyed. When the mound is killed, it falls apart into a heap of vegetation. The party spots something regular-shaped in amongst the vegetation, and discovers a small, well-carved wooden claw that apparently was being carried in the shambling mound's midsection. Magnus does a Detect Magic on the wooden claw, but finds no aura upon it. Whitefire examines the claw, and pronounces that it looks like a wooden replica of a reptilian claw. The party wonders at this for a time, then puts itself back together and moves on.

7/15

Eventually, the party makes it to the vicinity of Agleshka. They find a small hill on the south side of the encampment, which provides a good view. They see many buildings, and many rafts floating in the harbor -- they suspect that Agleshka is now larger than it was when Winterhawk last saw it. The only building which seems to have any activity in it at all (it is the middle of the night) is the central building, apparently the command post. In the moonlight, the party sees a draconian walk out onto the command post's porch, followed by another draconian. The two draconians apparently talk for several minutes, then the first one takes to the air and flies off to the east. The second draconian watches the first one fly away, then goes back inside.

The party decides that they want to observe what happens at Agleshska during the day. Under Whitefire's supervision, they use the last few hours of darkness to dig several hiding holes in the hillside, then cover the holes back up with sod. From this vantage point, they take sleeping shifts while watching the day's events unfold.

Once the sun comes up, Agleshka becomes very active, and the party can make out more of the base's details. There are several warehouses full of supplies. There is a lumberyard and lumbermill, where logs are being made into planks. There is a large area where swarms of kobolds are building rafts. Finally, there are several barracks, apparently full of lizardmen and kobolds.

Over the course of the morning, several wagon trains come into Agleshka via the gravel road. One train consists of a half-dozen wagons full of logs (Whitefire guesses that they are from mountain hardwoods, probably ash), led by red-scaled kobolds. Another train has barrels and crates of supplies, led by black-scaled kobolds.

In late morning, hundreds of lizardmen (mostly black, with some green and red) move into the harbor. They begin to lash together dozens of the rafts, creating a massive barge. The rafts were already laden with supplies; on top of these supplies, the lizardmen (and some kobolds) then begin to build an encampment. At the center of this barge is a tall structure, apparently a command bridge.

By early afternoon, the barge has been completed. At this point, several draconians (two blacks, a green, and a red) appear on the roof of the onshore command post. The party can make out that one of the draconians is carrying a silvery object on a chain (it resembles a plumb-bob), and another one is carrying a strange wooden device (resembling an irregularly-strung wooden harp, with various bits of material attached to the strings). The four draconians fly to the barge's command bridge, and hundreds of lizardmen begin pulling the barge out to sea (there are hundreds more lizardmen riding on the barge).

As the barge begins to move, the draconian holding the "plumb-bob" holds it out at arm's length. Suddenly, the "plumb-bob" becomes horizontal, as though it was being pulled to the west-northwest by some unseen force. The draconian begins shouting orders to the lizardmen, and they begin pulling the barge to the direction indicated by the device.

After perhaps two hours, the barge disappears over the horizon. At about this point, a black dragon flies towards the base. The dragon lands at the command building, and several draconians come out. They converse briefly with the dragon, who then flies off to the southeast. Meanwhile, the remaining kobolds continue to build rafts, and several new squads of lizardmen arrive via the road and take up residence in the barracks.

After sunset, the party agrees that they need to report back to Winterhawk. They extricate themselves from their hiding place, work their way down the hill (away from the base), and use the Gate Key to transfer back to Marington.

The party meets with Winterhawk, and briefs her on what they have seen. In conferring with the general, they find it curious that the barge's path was not heading directly for Dorlomin (it was heading too far west). This, combined with the amount of lumber and supplies that the barge carried, leads the party and the general to conclude that the Dracos are building a base somewhere between the Draconian States and Dorlomin, perhaps on an island.

 

[kenobi65]

Session #6 - 6/29/01

7/20

The party goes to visit Halamir, a seller of magical items that has been recommended to them by General Winterhawk. The general gives the party a letter of introduction to give to Halamir; this letter proves to be very useful in getting the party quickly past Laine, the female halfling receptionist at Halamir's shop. As Laine sends the party in to meet Halamir, she apparently flirts with Ulfgar, causing the dwarven ranger to blush slightly.

Inside the main sales area of Halamir's shop, the party first encounters a laconic dwarf with a nasty-looking axe -- clearly the shop's security guard. Halamir himself enters shortly thereafter -- he is a middle-aged male half-elf; he is friendly, but very businesslike in demeanor. The party parts with much of their cash in short order, and fairly depletes Halamir's inventory. Several party members enquire about having custom items made for themselves, as well, for Halamir has contact with most of the wizards in the city who create magical items, and acts as a go-between for those wishing to have items made..

7/21

In the morning, each member of the party receives a messenger (wearing Marnais livery), inviting them to dinner that evening at the home of Henric Renard, the governor of Marnes.

Upon receipt of this invitation, Ian goes to speak with General Winterhawk about it. Winterhawk tells him that it would be politically unwise (and rude) for the party to refuse the invitation. However, she cautions Ian that Renard is a very political creature, and appears to be opposed to the war against the Dracos. Ian shares this information with the party, and they agree to cautiously accept the invitation.

Dinner is hosted by Renard and his wife, Cesale. They are joined by Irlian, the under-secretary who had met the party at the Gallant Knight several days earlier. The meal is an excellent example of Marnais "country" fare -- the main course is roasted grouse, stuffed with wild mushrooms and glazed with a red-wine reduction, accompanied by early vegetables.

At first, Renard wishes the party to tell him about their exploits in the Draconic States. Eventually, he asks the party for their impressions of the Dracos -- specifically, what their motivations seem to be.

He then tells them that, while Winterhawk was at one point (as recently as last year) a heroic figure in the kingdom, that her star has fallen. The losses at Tun-Kashila, despite the nominal success of the mission, have crippled her politically (Renard notes that his own nephew was among the soldiers killed at Tun-Kashila). Beyond this, the amount of spending that Winterhawk has done, on ships, weapons, and the Gateway itself, has come into question, particularly since the Dracos have not attacked Dorlomin for a year.

Renard indicates that he, and others in the government, are not entirely convinced that the Dracos are still a threat to Dorlomin. He believes that it is possible that, after being defeated by Winterhawk in Avila the previous year, the Dracos have decided not to continue the war. This is why he was against the attack on Tun-Kashila -- he did not want to anger a foe that had apparently turned its attention elsewhere. He is thus pushing for King Kenton to ban any further offensive actions against the Dracos, and instead focus on defense, in case of possible future attacks.

Renard also shares a theory he has with the party. He notes that the only part of Dorlomin that the Dracos have attacked is Avila. He tells the party that the Avilans have a notorious history of dabbling in black magic -- about a century ago, the nobles of Avila entered into a pact with a demon in exchange for increasing Avila's power in the region. When the demon was banished by a group of adventurers, a magical "booby trap" was triggered, causing a massive earthquake that lead to much of Avila's land sinking below the ocean's surface. Renard believes that many Avilans still deal in black magic, and this may be the reason for the Dracos' attacks. Several party members attempt to convince Renard that they have seen no evidence of this being any motivation for the Dracos, but the governor does not seem convinced.

Renard wants the party to understand that Winterhawk, their patron, is in danger of losing her power. Since he sees the party as "up-and-comers," he encourages them to consider allying themselves with some other power center, if they wish to continue to build their own power. He tells them that they should always consider his door to be open to them, if they are in need of assistance.

After dinner, the party departs Renard's home and travels back to their respective inns. As they walk through Marington's darkened streets, several party members come to the realization that they are being followed. By the time the entire party is alerted to this fact, the party has become surrounded by a band of thugs, who begin to attack. After the party dispatches about half of the band, the rest flee into the night -- Nivek attempts to chase one of the thieves, but wisely decides against following the rogue into a building.

7/22

Early the next morning, each member of the party receives a second invitation. This one is delivered by a Dorlominian soldier, and is a scroll that reads as follows:

"Wraiths,

Meet me in my office at noon today. I have a mission for you.

Winterhawk"

Upon the party's arrival at the general's office, Winterhawk is not there. However, Genevieve Firehawk is there, and apologizes to the party for her mother's absence. She tells the party that the general would like to reschedule for that evening, and suggests that the party meet her at sunset (about 8 pm) at an inn in Old Northtown (a section of the city) called "The Mystic Centaur."

Winterhawk arrives at the Mystic Centaur about 20 minutes late. She is dressed in an old, weather-stained travelling cloak, with the hood pulled over her head, and is accompanied by Genevieve as well as a tall young man (6' 6", close-cropped blonde hair, short blonde beard, ice-blue eyes) in chainmail, with a longsword at his side. Winterhawk walks straight to the innkeeper, speaks to him briefly, then has Genevieve usher the party back to a private room.

Once inside, Winterhawk introduces the party to her second companion -- his name is Aren; he is a fighter and the son of an old friend of Winterhawk's. The general then apologizes for not being at the earlier meeting. "I spent most of the afternoon in front of the Council of Governors, answering questions about the war. It was not a pretty scene. As unbelievable as this may sound, some of the governors aren't even convinced that we need to worry about the Dracos! Some of them think that, because the Dracos only attacked Avila last year, that only the Avilans need worry about them. Others seem to think that, if we leave the Dracos alone, they will leave us alone." The party indicates that this point of view is very consistent with what they had heard from Renard.

Winterhawk then tells the party that she has a new mission for them. She is extremely interested in the two items that the party reported seeing the draconians take onto the barge -- the "plumb-bob" and the "harp." She wants the party to go back to Agleshka, see if they can find any other copies of these items, retrieve one of each, if possible, and return to Marington.

Because of the political climate right now, Winterhawk has been forbidden from mounting any new missions to the Draconic States. Thus, the party will need to enter the palace grounds through the service entrance (guarded, but not as visible) -- she assures them that the guards who will be on duty at the service entrance tonight, as well as those in the Gateway's courtyard, will be loyal to her.

Winterhawk gives the party directions to the service entrance, as well as a password ("thulae," which means "wraith" in Elvish). When given the correct response ("annon," which means "gateway" in Elvish), the party should follow the responding guard through the palace to the Gateway. In order to do this without notice, the party will need to enter the palace between midnight and 2 a.m.

The party leaves Winterhawk's company at this point, in order to get their gear ready for the mission. The party reassembles shortly before midnight, and proceeds to the palace's service entrance. After looking around to make sure they are not being watched, they knock at the door and say "thulae." A voice on the other side of the door says "annon," and the door opens.

7/23

The guard inside the doorway is a young man, perhaps 19. As he leads the party through the palace, the more observant members of the party notice that this young guard is walking oddly, almost as if he was not used to how his body is arranged. They also notice that the guard has a slight limp, very similar to a limp that Winterhawk has. The guard tells them, "the General wanted to make sure that you were accompanied by someone she could trust. So, she sent me." As he says this, his form shimmers slightly, and "he" becomes Winterhawk herself. She turns to the party, winks, and says, "Unfortunately, right now, I can't be seen doing this, and I certainly can't be seen in the Gateway courtyard. So, it's back into 'Lieutenant Tillesly' for the duration here." Her form shimmers again, and she is again the young lieutenant.

"Tillesly" leads the party into the Gateway courtyard. There are two guards standing watch there; they nod to "Tillesly" and leave the courtyard, closing the doors behind them. "Tillesly" hands a Gate Key to the party, opens the Gateway to the Keystone south of Agleshka, and the party goes through.

When the party arrives in Nyxal, it is early morning, just after sunrise. They begin to make for Aglesha, carefully moving through the swamp. After less than an hour, several party members notice movement in the grass ahead of them. A number of creatures then burst out of the swamp -- three large lizards, a crocodile, and a rat the size of a large dog -- and attack the party. The party defends themselves, and quickly takes the upper hand -- they make good use of an Entangle spell to slow the lizards down, and Whitefire Charms the dire rat.

However, the situation begins to look bleaker when a black draconian also begins to attack. Nivek manages to Command the draconian to "sleep," which gives the party enough time to immobilize him. The party quickly realizes that this draconian seems different from the others that they have encountered: his equipment seems much more "rustic," and he is wearing a wooden claw on a thong around his neck (the claw is very similar, if not identical, to the claw that they had found inside the shambling mound some days ago).

Ian questions the draconian. He learns that the draconian's name is Ipsuye, and that he "serves the Earthmother, through the power of the Talon of the Swamp." Ipsuye and Whitefire eye each other carefully, and begin to slowly converse in Druidic (although Ipsuye speaks a strange dialect of this secret tongue).

The party learns that Ipsuye is one of an apparently small number of followers of this "Talon of the Swamp." These followers are worshippers of the earth, which makes them outsiders in Draco society. They are very concerned about the Dracos' war against the humans, because the Dracos are stripping the land of its natural resources to fuel the war effort. Because of this, they have begun to wage their own campaign of guerrila warfare against the Dracos' military bases here in Nyxal.

Ipsuye quickly, and correctly, surmises that the party was responsible for the deaths of the shambling mound and the tendriculous. However, he also realizes that he and the party share the same foe. He makes an offer to the party -- if they will refrain from interfering with any of the Talon's allies (distinguishable by the wooden talon symbols), then the Talon's allies will make sure to steer clear of the party. The party agrees to this, and frees Ipsuye, who flies off into the swamp.

 

[kenobi65]

Session #7 - 7/27/01

After some discussion, the party decides to find a deep copse of trees to rest in, in order for the spellcasters to recharge. It is decided to rest until the middle of the following night – this would allow the party to complete their travel to Agleshka under the cover of darkness.

7/24

The party breaks camp around 2:30 a.m, and completes its trek to Agleshka about 3 hours later, shortly before sunrise. They quickly re-discover the holes that they had previously cut in a hillside overlooking the Draco camp. After evicting a small lizard that had set up housekeeping in one of the holes, they settle in to watch over activities in the camp.

The party believes that the "harps" and "plumb-bobs" are likely being stored in the main command post, so they focus on this building. As they observe the camp through its workday, they see seven draconians (5 black, 1 green, and 1 red) enter and / or exit the command post. A black dragon arrives in the camp, and the draconians follow it around as it apparently conducts an inspection tour of the facilities. Before nightfall, the dragon departs the camp, much to the party’s relief.

Over the course of the day, they see the green draconian fly away from the camp, but also see two additional black draconians arrive. They also see a “wagon train” of Nyxalian (black) kobolds arrive with a load of lumber.

7/25

The party decides to go into the camp, in search of the items, shortly before first light. They believe that this will minimize the opposition they will face, and also would put them back in Marington in the middle of the night, when the Gateway is under minimal scrutiny.

In preparation for this foray, Whitefire shapechanges into a falcon, Nivek uses a Change Self spell to appear as a draconian, and the rest of the party utilizes Invisibility spells and potions. In addition, Nivek has a Silence spell, centered on himself, but also covering Zeebee and Ulfgar. Whitefire begins a Call Lightning spell, just in case he needs to call a bolt down from the heavens. Finally, Ian casts a Locate Object spell, focusing on the “plumb-bob,” and is led towards the command post.

As the party carefully approaches the command post, Ming-Jeh goes up onto its porch, and peers into one of the windows. He sees a large conference room, dimly lit with torches. In the room is a very large dining table, as well as two “planning tables” (large cabinets with maps etched onto the tops). Ming-Jeh is close enough to the nearer planning table to make out details – it is a map of the Draconic States, with numerous small tokens spread across the map (apparently denoting the location of Draco resources). Meanwhile, Whitefire keeps watch up on the roof, still in falcon form.

As there is no sign of any life in the room, the party proceeds into the conference room through the unlocked front door. Ian’s Locate Object indicates that the plumb-bob is in the cabinet underneath the nearer planning table. A cursory investigation reveals that this cabinet is locked, with an unusual-shaped keyhole (a square hole, about ½ inch across). Nivek is unable to unlock the cabinet, so Magnus opens it with a Knock spell. Inside the cabinet, the party finds 2 “plumb-bobs” and 5 “harps,” as well as several platinum bars and two sacks full of gems.

As the party clears out the contents of the cabinet, Ian considers activating the Gateway for an immediate getaway. But, at that very moment, he receives a cryptic telepathic message from Winterhawk. The message says that the Gateway is not functional, and that she will need at least an hour to restore it.

The party then decides to take the loot and retreat to their hilltop. At this point, they are suddenly, and unexpectedly, assaulted by several black draconians, coming from the command post’s sleeping quarters. Although it is a short fight, several party members (particularly Phadian) are wounded by the draconians.

As the battered Phadian retreats past the far planning table, he realizes that the map on that table depicts the Draconic States, as well as the Dorlominian coast and two islands, lying between the two continents. The island nearer the Draconic States has many “tokens” on it, while the island nearer Dorlomin has only a few tokens; there are several more tokens in the sea between the Draconic States and the first island.

The party manages to dispatch the draconians without alerting the rest of the camp. As they are about to leave the command post, they decide to take several of the draconian bodies back with them, in hopes of being able to use Speak With Dead to interrogate them (and perhaps convince Governor Renard of the situation).

They retreat to their lookout hill, at which point Whitefire triggers his Call Lightning. A bolt of electricity arcs from the clouds to the command post, blasting a hole in the roof directly over the conference room, and starting the building on fire. Believing that this new (and apparently perfectly natural) emergency will keep the Dracos occupied (and cover any evidence of the party’s actions in the command post), the party moves away from Agleshka as they wait for the Gateway to be restored.

After an hour or so, Ian tries the Gate Key, but nothing happens. He tries again 15 minutes later, again with no effect. The party continues into the swamp, and Ian waits for another 45 minutes before trying the Gate Key a third time (as each use of the Gate Key proves to be very draining to Ian, he does not want to try too often). This time, the shimmering form of the Gateway appears, but in a very strange shape – it is about 7 feet high, and about 3 feet wide.

After a moment’s hesitation, the party hustles through the Gateway, and find themselves in a living room in a private residence. Winterhawk is there, as are Genevieve, Rory, and Aren. The Gateway Stones are now affixed to a door frame, separating a living room from a dining room. Winterhawk apologizes for the delay, and explains that they are in her private home.

Winterhawk continues, explaining that the past few days have been very trying. The Council of Governors has forced King Kenton to remove Winterhawk as the commander of Dorlomin’s armed forces; in response to this, Winterhawk has resigned her commission. The new commander will apparently be following Renard’s policy of focusing on Dorlomin’s defenses, rather than actively assaulting the Dracos.

The Council had also convinced Kenton to deactivate the Gateway. Renard and his supporters had argued that the Gateway provides the Dracos with too easy a way to attack Dorlomin, as well as being too open to unauthorized usage by Winterhawk; thus, they ordered it to be taken down and put into storage. However, Winterhawk continues, the king was not truly in agreement with the Council on this matter, and allowed Winterhawk to smuggle the Gateway Stones out of the palace. She had just accomplished this, and just set the Stones up to retrieve the party, when they returned on their own. She also points out that Renard is still suspicious of her, as evidenced by the numerous guards keeping watch on her house from various vantage points in the neighborhood.

Just as Winterhawk wraps up her tale, a burst of light erupts from behind Magnus, and four large and agitated crocodiles pop into existence (apparently being the result of an undiscovered trap back in the command post). A chaotic battle ensues, as the party stumbles over furniture and tries to fight the crocs in the close quarters of Winterhawk’s home. The crocodiles do some damage, but are eventually killed.

After delivering a plumb-bob and a harp to Winterhawk, the party discusses what to do with the draconian bodies. Winterhawk sends Rory to fetch Aryl, the cleric of Heironeous. Rory quickly returns with the older priest and several younger acolytes (all grumbling about being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night). Once the situation is explained to him, Aryl agrees to bring the draconian bodies before the Council and the king, and use Speak With Dead in their presence. It is his (and the party’s) hope that doing this will be sufficient to convince Renard and the rest of the council that the Dracos are intent on wiping out all of Dorlomin.

As Aryl and his acolytes depart with the Draco corpses, Winterhawk gives the party one more piece of news. Several days ago, the king received a message from the elves in Caradhir. This message stated that the elves were politely, but firmly, asking all non-elves, including the Dorlominian diplomatic envoy, to depart from the trading village in Caradhir (the only place within the elven land where non-elves are routinely allowed). The elves have also recalled their own diplomats, and have informed the king that Caradhir’s borders would be closed to non-elves “for an indefinite time.” Finally, the elves have informed Kenton that they will not be asking for permission to pass through Dorlomin on the river this year – this is a request that the elves have made every year for centuries, in order to conduct a diplomatic trip to another elven kingdom to the south.