The Ghost Tower of Inverness (C2)

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 41, “From Death to Dragons”, May 5th, 1006:

The party remains in the town of Fairbanks Cove for several days while apprenticeships continue.

May 9th, 1006:

An alarm goes up in town, and the townspeople all begin to gather in the town square. The party asks what is happening and are told that death is coming to take one of the townsfolk. The party watches as a group of skeletons marches into the town followed by a person in a dark robe carrying a scythe. A black face with red eyes can be seen beneath the hood on the cloak. A second black-cloaked creature accompanies him. This creature then raises its scythe and points towards a middle-aged man who is standing in the audience. The man says good-bye to his family. Death’s assistant picks up bag containing an offering from the town’s people. The band of creatures departs from the town, with the man accompanying them.

“And exactly what the hell was that?” Phuddipeduzh asks. The townsfolk explain that Death had come for the man, that it was his time. Isaiah comments, “That isn’t how death operates where I come from.” Lysdashi adds “I never heard of anyone paying death to take someone away.” The townsfolk say that is how it has been here for multiple generations. Silas tells Blake to go check it out, and he scampers off after the skeletal possession. He follows them for a few miles and they enter a cave. He returns to the town to tell the others.

The group of Blake, Isaiah, Jamie, Lysdashi, Phuddi and Silas head out to the cave. They enter and Lysdashi finds the most recent set of tracks. They follow those down several winding corridors, and then run into a group of animated skeletons that have been left to guard against intruders. A battle follows, during which the skeletons are destroyed.

The party carefully moves onward, finding a large chamber ahead. They see Death’s scythe and cloaks draped over a rock, and in the center of the room they see a pair of drow elves. The male is attired as a fighter, and the female is dressed as a cleric. The man from the town is lying dead on an altar, having just been sacrificed. “Drow” Lysdashi states in a tone of voice that communicates his antipathy towards that race. Phuddi comments, “That explains it. These two must have been tricking the superstitious townsfolk for centuries.”

“Let’s get’em” Silas says. Lysdashi and Jamie charge the cleric while Silas and Phuddi charge the fighter. Black sneaks around behind, while Isaiah stays in reserve, throwing an occasional spell. Both foes are soon brought down. Silas, Phuddi and Isaiah head down a side corridor to investigate the Drow lair. Once they are gone the cleric attacks again, having only been feigning death. Another battle follows, where she is eventually defeated. The man is buried and the treasure found.

The six head back to the ship. They decide not to tell the townsfolk anything, with Phuddi stating “The truth would just make them feel stupid. They will figure out soon enough that death now takes a less direct role in their lives.”

May 10th to 14th, 1006:

The party remains in Fairbanks Cove for several more days, during which Jamie receives an apprenticeship for her next level. The party finally sets sail for their homeport of Halla.

May 18th, 1006:

After the ship sails around the northwestern coast of the continent they are startled by the sudden appearance of a large red dragon flying out of the clouds and towards their ship. It blasts the masts with its breath, setting the sails on fire. It then flies away to the east. Several of the party members recognize the dragon as the exact same one that they faced in the lowest cave level two months earlier. It takes several hours to get the fire extinguished. A few makeshift sails are jury-rigged to provide some propulsion.

May 22nd, 1006:

After four days of struggling to make any headway the ship finally nears a populated community, the town of Hanna along the coast of the Kaloon Lordholding. Isaiah and Tolbyrne are familiar with the town, and state that there is a shipbuilding operation that could probably repair the ship. Klaaze is also familiar with the area, his family’s estate being about a day’s journey to the east.

They pull into the harbor and make the arrangements for the repairs. They also discover that the people of this town are familiar with that particular red dragon, as its lair is known to be a few days journey to the north. Klaaze is determined to get revenge at the dragon that had previously killed him, especially with it living so close to his family’s holdings.

May 23rd, 1006:

The group consisting of Isaiah, Kharole, Klaaze, Lysdashi, Mark, Phuddi, Serita, Silas and Vincenzo head off to slay the dragon.

May 24th, 1006:

The party uses a strategy of sending in the fighters who can take the most damage to get the dragon to exhaust his breath weapons, with the rest of the party to then attack as a second wave. The fighters are sent in two groups, to force the dragon to split his attack. Isaiah and Vinnie each head with a group to provide healing, which proves to be a mistake as Isaiah gets caught in the same two breath attacks as Phuddi, almost killing him and melting the party’s Rod of Resurrection. Silas leads the other assault team and is nearly killed as well, taking a breath attack and a bite. Through teamwork the dragon is eventually defeated.

May 25th, 1006:

The party return to Hanna with the dragon’s treasure, most of which is used to pay for the new sails and rigging for the ship. They set sail for home.

May 28th, 1006:

The party arrives back in their homeport of Halla.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 42, “The Lost Ark”, June 7th, 1006:

Natasha receives a threatening message from the Magician Gredstien, who had fought the party the following year in the town of Gelorynth. The message challenges the party to a duel. The group decides to ignore it, feeling “Why should we go looking for trouble.”

Isaiah receives instructions from his church to accompany the Silver Moon Adventurers, and for him to keep an ongoing journal of their actions. He is not given any specific reason for this, other that a senior High Priest was seeking to have Timothy excommunicated from the church for violations of the Yon Church’s Articles of Faith (Yon is the local name for the lawful good deity Ukko). It is stated that Isaiah’s journal would be instrumental to a hearing about that.

June 9th, 1006:

Phuddipeduzh receives a premonition during a dream about a long-lost artifact of the Yon Church. He is told that if he is able to find this artifact he will become a Paladin of Yon. He convinces the party to set sail for the island that was shown to him in the dream.

June 10th, 1006:

By mid-afternoon the party reaches an island to the west of the continent. A group consisting of Blake, Isaiah, Kharole, Lysdashi, Melina, Narg, Phuddi, Serita, Silas, Vincenzo and the ship’s First Mate, Jacob head off from the ship. They head towards a cave leading deep into the volcano at the center of the island. A pair of gargoyles are encountered and fought. The next thing encountered is a group of angry rats that attack Isaiah and Silas. A rot grub lands of Narg and attempts to eat him. The evening is capped off by an attack by four Hellhounds, which take the combined efforts of the party to defeat.

They decide not to stay there to rest, on the off chance that other Hellhounds might be around. Next they have to traverse a pit trap, which drops down 50 feet to a bed of spikes. They finally reach a room that they determine looks safe enough to stop at.

June 11th, 1006:

During the night both Phuddipeduzh and Isaiah dream about a wall in the dungeon that they passed the previous day. In the morning they convince the party to return to that spot. The party searches for secret doors, and eventually discovers that the entire wall it a secret door. The fighters work together to use their combined strengths to slide the wall to the side. A large chamber is behind the wall.

In the center of the room on a raised platform is a large golden ark, which Isaiah recognizes as the Lost Ark of Prophets of the Yon Church. Phuddi and Isaiah move forward, approaching the three-step staircase up to the platform. As they step on the first step panels in the wall open and a squadron of armed skeletons charge in. Narg yells to the cleric and fighter “Keep going, we can handle them.” Climbing on the next step causes more wall panels to open, and out rush a squadron of zombies.

Vincenzo holds out his holy symbol and manages to turn most of the undead, with the remaining party members defeating the others. Phuddi and Isaiah step on the next step, and from the panels where the skeletons had entered now come a group of ghouls. Vincenzo turns all but two, who the party attacks with magical weapons and spells.

Phuddi tells Isaiah “On the count of three step onto the platform and head directly to the ark. You grab the handles on the right, I’ll get the ones on the left. No matter what happens, we lift it and get it out of this chamber as quickly as possible.” Isaiah agrees, and the plan is put into action. As they move towards the ark a Greater Devil materializes in the room. The entire party launch attacks against the devil as the two on the platform attempt to lift the ark, which will not budge.

The devil ignores the remainder of the party, climbing up onto the platform to stop Phuddi and Isaiah. The two of them let go of the arc, and fight the devil. Silas charges up onto the platform, striking the devil in the back. Isaiah tosses a Light spell directly into the devil’s face, and the monster plane shifts away. Phuddi and Isaiah again grab the handles, and this time the ark lifts without any problem. They start to head towards the platform. Another Greater Devil, this one taller than the other, gates in before them, blocking their path.

Serita exclaims “We can’t win! Defeating one just causes a stronger one to replace it!”
Kharole answers “Yeah, but the other one had to first go back to Hell to get the other. What if we can defeat it, but still keep it here?” “How?” Serita asks. Kharole pulls out from her pack a scroll that she has carried for quite some time, with the 9th level Magic-user spell Imprisonment. She reads the scroll, causing the devil to be captured.

Isaiah and Phuddi carry the ark down the stairs and in the direction of the opening in the wall. The other members of the party begin to exit the chamber when the Devil calls upon his god for assistance, and the Imprisonment is then dispelled. The devil throws a flaming sphere at the party, which dispels as it hits the air where the wall had been. “His power must only work within the chamber itself. Hurry,” Kharole yells. Silas is the furthest behind, and the devil is able to mesmerize him, with him freezing in place.

Lysdashi draws his bow, telling Melina to do the same. She points towards the devil, and he says “No, fire at Silas instead.” “What!” she exclaims. He replies “It’s the only way to break him out of the hold. Trust me, he’ll thank us later.” She does as instructed, with Silas getting struck by arrows from each of his allies. It does break him from the Hold, and he charges towards the door.

The devil waves his hand, and the wall slides back. Narg tosses his magical shield down to stop it, holding the doorway open. This opening is not wide enough for the ark, and Phuddi attempts to push the wall back, with no effect. “Damn, we’re going to have to defeat it,” he says. Phuddi draws his Vorpal Blade and charges at the devil. The blade slices cleanly through the devil’s torso, and he gates away as the body separates into two pieces. Narg exclaims “Hurry, before another one shows up.” Narg, Silas and Lysdashi are able to push the wall further open, as the rest of the party carries the arc through.

Phuddi is almost to the door when another Greater Devil, this one even larger than the last, materializes into the room. “Jump” Kharole yells, and Phuddi dives through the doorway, the fighters pushing the wall shut behind him. The group quickly carries the ark away from that section of the dungeon, and out of the caves. They then bring it back to their ship, deciding to spend the night anchored in the harbor, and to leave at dawn.

June 12th. 1006:

The party awakens to discover that Phuddi’s charisma has now increased. The ship sets sail to return to Halla.

June 14th, 1006:

The ship arrives back at Halla. Serita goes to for an apprenticeship. Melina is given her apprenticeship for 2nd level by Narg. Phuddipeduzh begins his initial apprenticeship to now become a paladin.

[Chronicler’s Note #55: After I finishing the “Chagmat” module I announced that I needed for someone else to DM for a few weeks to allow me time to prep the TSR Slaver Series (A1 to A4), which I had played in my other D&D group, but hadn’t read any of yet. The DM of the Module #6 was the only volunteer, and I was reluctant to let him given how poorly received that module was, but nobody else was willing. I emphasized to him that I would only need a few weeks, and for him not to plan anything more than a few short filler games.

His first night was interesting, with the drow encounter. The next night-and-a-half were challenging and fun, bring a sense of finality to the prior encounter with the red dragon. It was during the his next night-and-a-half that the group felt he overdid it again, building a killer scenario loosely based on the film “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the sole purpose of highlighting and enhancing his fiancé’s playing character. I decided to take the DM chores back at that point, even though doing so left it for me to resolve the subplot that he had started regarding Timothy and his church.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 43, “Timothy’s Quest & the Slaver Series Begins”, June 18th, 1006:

Isaiah informs the party that the High Priest Joshua wishes to have an audience with them at the Halla Cathedral of Yon on the following day.

June 19th, 1006:

The party head out to the Cathedral. The bring the Ark with them, but keep it by the Cathedral entrance covered by a blanket and guarded by members of their ship’s crew. The party goes forward for their audience with Joshua. The High Priest explains that Timothy is to be censured and anathematized for violations of the Yon Articles of Faith. The High Priest explains that the charges stem from Timothy’s actions with the Silver Moon Adventurers.

Natasha says “Before you do that, we have something you might want to look at first.” The crewmembers bring forward the arc, and the blanket is removed. Joshua is very surprised by the sight of the holy artifact, and uses a Commune spell to confirm that the ark is authentic. While in communication with his deities he also inquires about the Silver Moon Adventurers and Timothy specifically. Based on the response Joshua declares Timothy innocent of three of the four charges against him. He says that the fourth is a violation against Law rather than Good, and that Timothy himself must cast an Atonement spell to determine his god's wishes.

Timothy is handed a scroll with words of the spell upon it, and reads them. A bright flash follows, and a winged warrior maiden of Ukko appears before them. She says that her name is Ilma, and commands Timothy to step forward and kneel. He does so, and she lifts up the sword she is carrying, striking him gently. He vanishes. Ilma explains that Timothy has been chosen to go on a quest on another plane for his atonement. His essense is currently within the sword. During the next few weeks he will select two members of the Silver Moon party to accompany him, and which point he will begin his quest. Ilma then hands the sword to Jamie.

Before departing she tells them that the mission they are currently embarking upon is of great importance to her and her deity. The slaving operation that they were first told about three weeks earlier is located in the Cantage Lordholding town of Clearwater. This is one of four communities in the area of the city of Dunn. Dunn is a theocracy ruled by the Dunn/Phlooredian Church, which claims to be a rather generic lawful neutral/lawful good religion. In reality, it is a front for the Lawful Evil Church of Loviatar, one of six deities of the pantheon known as the Church of the Black Sun. The slaving operation is one of the primary sources of income for the Church, and the elimination of it would be a major blow to Loviatar.

June 20th, 1006:

The party makes preparations for their journey. Klaaze throws a birthday party for his fuzzy Buzz.

June 21st, 1006:

The ship Silver Moon sets sail for the Cantage Lordholding.

June 22nd, 1006:

The day is slow as the winds come to a complete halt. Some of the party see this as a bad omen. A playful seal arrives on the ship, which Serita wishes to keep, but the ship's captain refuses to allow onboard.

June 23rd, 1006:

Another day without wind, with the ship dead in the water. Mark says that he picked up a "Feather Token" called Fan, and suggests that it be used. It is pointed out that a small fan would have no significant effect on propelling a large ship. Isaiah comments "Maybe not. If it is Loviatar who is keeping us held, then I pray to Ukko to bless this magic item to counter it. He does so, and the fan proves to be very effective at creating a great gust of wind to fill the ship's sails. The magic also does not cease after a short period of time, as is usually the case with feather tokens.

June 24th, 1006:

There is still no wind, but the feather token continues to function. A group of dolphins arrivie by the ship and are befriended by Serita, who says that "Some friendly eyes in the water can't hurt at this stage. Deciding that danger is ahead, the Captain insists on anchoring for the night.

June 25th, 1006:

The party awaken, to find the dolphins floating dead, with huge teeth bits in them. A huge Nonosaurus then surfaces and attacks the ship. Phuddipeduzh nearly perishes in the fight that follows. Two of the ship's crewmembers, Biz and George are eaten by the monster. Silas, Natasha and Boz are instrumental in the fight. The monster is eventually wounded enough that it submerges and swims away. A ship's ballista is also damaged in the attack. The superstitious Captain is hesitant to continue.

June 26th, 1006:

The crew rescues an old man, who is on a makeshift raft alongside a dead woman. He is brought onboard, saying that his ship was attacked by the Nonosaurus. He asks where they are sailing to, and they tell him. Phuddi then identifies the man as being evil. The man throws a lightning bolt into Phuddi. He had not seen Natasha behind him, and she gets a near fatal backstab into the man. The man dives overboard and into the ocean. He surfaces a few minutes later, riding on a Broom of Flying. He then becomes invisible.

"What the hell was that all about?" Mark asks. The man then reappears at the rear of the boat, tossing a Fireball that kills the crewmembers Don and Dar, and seriously harming Vincenzo. The man threatens the party, revealing himself to be the magician Gredstein who had threatened them before in a letter. He leaves them another note, saying he will soon have his revenge, and flies away.

[DM's Note #56: A slow start to the slaver's series due largely to the amount of baggage inherited by the prior DM. Not only did I have to wrap up the Timothy sub-plot, but at the start of the game night I was handed information from him about Gredstein and his plots, to work into the storyline as well.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 44, “Arrival at Clearwater,” June 27th, 1006:

The party decides to head to the port city of Dunn in order to purchase supplies to repair the sails and rigging from the fireball damage. A pair of catapults guarding the harbor immediately shoots them at. “They must have heard that we were coming,” Klaaze comments. Several boats from the Cantage Lordholding Navy are launched. The head Captain, who introduces himself as the Baron of Foster, questions the party. He berates them for not flying the proper colors. After he makes his report an Abbott from the Dunn/Phlooredian Church sails out to the ship to issue and collect a 20 gold piece fine for the transgression. The party decides to skip buying any supplies here, get directions to Clearwater, and sails away.

They reach the river that leads to the community of Clearwater. Some fishermen nearby question whether the ship will be able to navigate the river, as most craft that sail on it are considerably smaller than the party’s huge warship. “When we get to Clearwater would we be about to turn the ship around?” Captain Quirk asks. The fishermen reply “Sure, the city is along a large lake at the end of the river.” “I say we risk it,” the Captain replies.

They sail downriver for ten miles, stopping for the night. A pair of riders is seen in the distance coming towards them. The riders turn out to be the Lone Ranger, and his elvan sidekick Tonto, who decide to accompany the party.

June 28th, 1006:

The ship sails downriver, destroying two wooden bridges that are in their path, as there was not adequate time to stop before reaching them. “Typical Silver Moon approach,” Kharole comments. The final mile prior to reaching the lake is a bit harrowing, with the ship scraping along the river bottom at several places. They reach the lake and sail into the harbor for the town of Clearwater by early afternoon. There arrival is noted by nearly the entire town, given that no ship as large as theirs has ever been there before.

They drop anchor in the harbor and send a party ashore. A political leader named Alexander with the title of Zolif stops them, and orders them back to their ship until officially welcomed by a priest of the Dunn/Phlooredian Church. They do as instructed, and are soon joined by a gnome priest. He tells the party that the town and region are all part of a theocracy, and that the mention of any other religions is forbidden. He accepts a small donation for the church, and gives the party permission to depart as they choose. He also negotiates payment for a berth at one of the town’s docks, and the ship is then anchored there.

The group of Kharole, Lysdashi, Mark and Natasha decide to check out the town. They get directions to the most expensive restaurant in town and head there for dinner. At the end of the meal both ladies and Mark excuse themselves, leaving Lysdashi with the 78 gold piece tab. After paying the bill he head off to find a brothel. Mark had headed back to the ship, but the two ladies decide to continue to check out the town on their own. They flirt with a pair of young human men in a bar. They soon discover that the men are brothers, whose mother has been anxious to get them wed. They girls end the conversations, and head back to the ship.

Meanwhile, Phuddipeduzh and Vincenzo go shopping for shields, as both of their current shields display symbols of their own religions, which would not be welcomed here. The two find a less expensive place to dine. Silas finds himself the rowdiest bar in town, the Party House, and gets into a fight. The town bully decides to beat up Tonto, resulting in the Lone Ranger beating the guy up and taking the man’s broadsword. Other fighters in town then buy him drinks for giving the bully what he deserved. Kharole later identifies the sword as being a +4

June 29th, 1006:

The rest of the party decides to check out the town. Lone goes to the Blaine’s Swordsmith shop, trading in his newly acquired +4 longsword for a +3 broadsword that he is more proficient with. The party heads over to a church to speak with the gnome, but nobody appears to be present. An orc fighter is seen sleeping in a pew, and wakes and gets into a fight with Silas, with Silas soon killing the orc. “Great way to enter a house of worship,” Mark sarcastically comments. Some half-orcs enter the church, and question what happened. Seeing that the party outnumbers them, the half-orcs decide to leave.

Kharole, Natasha and Lysdashi check out a gambling hall. Kharole then goes and visits with most of the magic-users in town. Many of the party members visit the town’s magic shop, with Kharole and Serita cashing in jewelry and gems for purchases. Phuddipeduzh loans money to both Kharole and Lysdashi for purchases, her getting a magic wand and him buying a +3 Frost Brand longsword (that Klaaze also wanted). Klaaze has a run-in with a female halberd maker, who bends his halberd as a demonstration of the weapon’s inferior workmanship. Klaaze punches her.

The only ones who do any investigation about the slavers are the Lone Ranger and Tonto. First they discover a paladin named Hartmann, who is also in town to end the slaving operation. Lone discovers that a town leader named Viceroy Leonard is affiliated with the slavers. He decides to infiltrate the organization, offering his services as a guard. As a test of Lone’s fighting ability he is made to fight Leonard’s Captain of the Guard. Lone winds up accidentally killing the man, which eliminates his chances of being hired and almost eliminates his life as well, with him making a quick escape.

Tonto maintains surveillance over the town’s secret poison maker, who is rumored to make poison for the slavers. Once Tonto confirms the slaving connection he gets Lone and Hartmann and Hartmann’s squire, and the four of them break into the underground alchemist’s house. The man throws a vial of acid in the face of Hartmann’s squire Phillip, and escapes. They later visit the town’s official alchemist, who is pleased to hear that his competitor is now out of business. Lone buys an invisibility potion from the man.

Back on the ship, Natasha catches a thief in her cabin. She beats the man up, and locks him into the ship’s hold with the crewmember Al and Serita’s dog Seneal to watch him. When she returns with several party members Al is unconscious, the dog is cut up but still alive, and the thief is long gone. Mark actually has a run in with the man on the dock, but the thief escapes.

Lysdashi and Boz return with Silas to the Party House tavern, and another fight breaks out this evening. The Assistant Captain of the Guard for that part of town breaks it up using a large number of army troops. Four arrests are made, namely the town blacksmith and the three party members.

[DM’s Note #57: The party continued to be rather slow in getting into the actual text of Module A1, with most players focusing on role playing town encounters instead. In fact, only Lone’s player showed any interest in the module itself. I did manage to tie in a few enemy NPC’s from the module, that would show up later, namely the half-orcs encountered at the church (which is where they went to get paid for their slaver duties), and the higher level thief who snuck onto the ship to find out who the party were and what they were up to.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 45, “A pair of unplanned weddings and other silliness” June 30th, 1006:

The group spends the morning aboard the ship. The young men that Kharole and Natasha had flirted with on the evening of the 28th, Carlo and Algernon, arrive with flowers and presents. The presents include gold necklaces each with a large sapphire attached. Both women do not realize their acceptance of it constitutes their agreeing to marry the men. One other messenger arrives for Natasha, being a follow-up to her search for the local thieves’ guild. Kharole and Natasha investigate this, finding a few clues about the slaver’s activities. They also have an altercation with the mother of the two boys, who has begun making wedding plans. They tell her that they have no intention of marrying her sons. She informs them that they have no choice, having legally agreed to it, and that the wedding will be in four days on July 3rd.

In the afternoon another member of the local clergy named Alexander comes to give them further instruction about the religious practices of the town, as the following day is the weekly day of Sabbath. On the subject of religion, Serita searches the town to find a ‘closet druid’ to apprentice her. She is successful, as the town’s main animal trainer is secretly a medium-level druid. The three party members in jail finally get word to the party about where they are, but by then the courts have closed for the day, so they will have to remain in jail until after the Sabbath to get bailed out.

July 1st, 1006:

The party safely decides to stay on the ship on Sabbath day, rather than risk violating restrictions and rules of the church. The cleric Jared comes out to the ship to make it appear that they are observing the required rituals, and answers questions for them about the slavers. He tells them of slave pits beneath the city, accessible only via the sewers. He also tells them of what appears to be an abandoned temple in the city, which is actually the local headquarters of the slavers.

Jared is able to direct Vincenzo to another town resident, who is secretly a medium-level cleric of Vinnie’s church, so that he can begin an apprenticeship. The gnome also gives Natasha and Kharole advice about their “engagements”, stating that it is a legally binding obligation, and that the only way they could get out of it is to be already married to somebody else.

July 2nd, 1006:

Natasha convinces Phraakeese to agree to marry her. They appear before the magistrate of the town’s Payette District for the ceremony. While at the courthouse she also deals with bailing her three allies out of jail.

Kharole tries to get herself married, but has difficulty finding a willing groom. First she attempted to rope her boyfriend Narg into it, but he wants nothing to do with the institution of marriage and goes into hiding (with help from his Pooka). Next she casts a Charm Person spell onto Klaaze, who then agreed. However, when the magistrate asked him to say the words “I do” he successfully made his spell saving throw, and blurted out “Hell NO!” and ran out of the courthouse. She then used her last Charm Person on Silas, who agreed, but then also made his save at the appropriate time, backing out rather than saying the words “I do.”

July 3rd, 1006:

Kharole manages to make Silas feel guilty about jilting her, and he reluctantly agrees to marry her. She quickly hurries him over to the courthouse for the ceremony prior to being forced to marry Algernon instead. The two women, and their new husbands, break the news to the two Mama’s boys.

July 4th, 1006:

Kharole and Natasha have to appear in court, as Carlo and Algernon’s mother filed “breach of promise” charges against them. She wishes to have their other marriages annulled, but the magistrate rules instead that the women just have to pay a small fine and return the two engagement necklaces. Silas, Boz and Lysdashi also have to appear in court this day regarding the bar brawl, and each have to pay a small fine for disturbing the peace.

Meanwhile, the poison maker Marcel appears to be back in business, and receives another visit by Lone and Tonto. As soon as they enter the shop Marcel summons a group of six orcs hiding in the back room, who eject the two adventurers from the shop.

Narg returns from hiding, accompanied by a very strange companion. The man is wearing a space suit and introduces himself as Ron Luther X5-0135. He says he is from a different universe, where he was fighting a villain named Vaughn W4-9387. During the course of the battle they accidentally blew the universe up. Ron was able to escape via the help of the pooka Monty, who brought him to Narg.

July 5th, 1006:

Vincenzo and Serita both return from their respective apprenticeships, which is one reason why the party had held off on dealing directly with the slavers until then. With information derived from Lone, Tonto and Natasha’s investigations as well as the cleric Jared, they decide upon a two-pronged attack. Narg says that he will lead one group to infiltrate the abandoned temple, while another group will attempt to attack where they suspect the orcs and ogres are headquartered. The slave pits are rumored to be accessible from both locations, so whichever group reaches there first will free the slaves. The outside group is told to wait several hours before beginning, otherwise any foes within the temple will be on a higher state of alert. Narg adds “Yeah, in a few hours we’ll probably have gotten into such big trouble and will need the second group to create a major distraction for us to get out of it.”

[DM’s Note #58: Yet another lengthy amount of role-playing, with minimal interest in the module itself. The return of Narg’s player finally helped to get the group back on track, as he had played most of the three other modules of the TSR Slaver’s series in his and my other gaming group, but he had missed almost all of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, so was anxious to play it. Most players now had two active playing characters, which is why they decided to split the party into two groups. Narg’s concluding statement will also prove to be right on the money. Silas’s player decided to introduce another fighter as his 2nd character. He bought with him a lead miniature of a Gamma World spaceman simply as a joke, and was very surprised when I agreed to allow it.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 46, “Into the Module (finally)”, July 6th, 1006:

Before dawn an assault team of nine exit the boat and sneak over to the far side of the large said-to-be abandoned temple, where they won’t be seen from the town. Natasha sneaks forward to investigate, with Narg and Kharole accompanying her as back up. A zombie is seen guarding the door to the structure, and the monster is soon dispatched. They then signal for the other six members of their team to join them, namely Blake, Jamie, Phuddipeduzh, Silas, Vincenzo and an elvan ranger associate of the cleric Jared named Karroway.

They enter the structure and travel down several corridors and through some rooms with collapsed roofs and floors. They eventually reach a dead end, and have to backtrack. As they near a cemetery/crypt section of the temple the group is attacked by a pair of ghasts and ten ghouls. Vincenzo fails to turn these undead, and the party all draw their magical weapons to attack them. Both gasts and two of the ghouls are destroyed, the remaining ghouls deciding to flee. During the course of the battle both Phuddipeduzh and Karroway became temporarily paralyzed, and it takes a while for them regain mobility.

The group reaches a large room where the floor has collapsed, creating a large pit filled with garbage, spikes and broken glass. They very carefully make their way across the pit on a rickety board that has been secured at the end. They soon reach a room with junk and clutter, and attempt to make their way past. An object that had been assumed to be a pile of rags then lashes out at time with a series of tentacles. Kharole pulls a “mule” patch off of her magical cloak, and tosses it at the rag-monster. The creature attacks the animal, allowing time for the party to exit the room.

They make their way into the next room, only to then be ambushed by orcs from two different directions. Narg and Phuddipeduzh charge the smaller group, telling the rest of the party to get the others. Unfortunately this causes the group to split up, as Narg and Phuddi kill some of them and chase after the others, while the battle with the other group moves out through a doorway into the temple’s stable. Another group of orcs then arrive to reinforce this group, with several characters complaining about their two best fighters having run off. Narg and Phuddi eventually rejoin the others, at which point the orcs have all been defeated, and the party is physically in pretty rough shape.

The party moves on, investigating a large room with a collapsed roof. They are then ambushed again by undead, with a Wight charging at Phuddi. He counters, and with assistance from the halfling Blake, manages to vanquish the foe. They rest of the party are preoccupied with battling a group of ghouls, who appear to be the same ones who had escaped earlier. Natasha barley manages to avoid getting hit by one, and Silas is then attacked by a second Wight, who Vincenzo manages to turn. “This is a hell of a way to spend a honeymoon,” Silas comments. The party then discovers a staircase down, which they decide to use.

They descend down, and reach a series of tunnels. They follow, with the ranger Karroway looking for tracks while the party maps out the tunnels. The most traveled route eventually ends with a ladder going upward, which they then climb. It ends in a room full of what appear to be human slaves being watched over by an ogre guard. The party head up, attacking the ogre and telling the slaves they are there to rescue them. Only then does the party discover it was a trap, and that these slaves are actually disguised half-orc slavers, tricking the party into relaxing their guard.

Kharole tosses up a web spell to trap the enemies, but also catches Vincenzo in it. Narg and Natasha ascertain that one of the half-orcs is both the leader and a cleric/fighter, and target their attacks on him. The orc leader swings a magical sword that hits Narg in the leg, cutting through the main artery and smashing the bone. Narg collapses and screams out in pain.

The sword that Jamie has been carrying, housing Timothy’s essence, leaps from her hand and stabs into Narg, with his body dematerializing. “What happened?” Silas yells. Phuddi answers “Timothy apparently decided to save Narg’s life by selecting him to go on his quest.” Unfortunately the commotion also caused enough of a distraction for the enemy leader to escape in the confusion. The remaining enemies are all slain, and the party decides to retreat back to the tunnels.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 47, “The Second Wave”, July 6th, 1006:

The second team adventurers has carefully made its way into the seedy part of town in small groups so as not to appear to be a mob. Lone, Phraakeese and Tao coordinate the movements of the group, keeping a series of buildings under surveillance. Several dozen orcs and half-orcs are seen inside of residences near the abandoned temple, and a few ogres are also glimpsed, confirming that this is the part of the city where several of the slavers have set up shop.

The team is hesitant to take further action, not knowing what is happening to the other team. Phraakeese volunteers to head over to the temple and investigate. Fearing that he might get captured himself, he says, “If you don’t hear back from me in an hour start the attack.”

Phraakeese exits that part of the city and carefully makes his way around outside of town and then back towards the temple from the woods, following the same path that the other team had planned. He very cautiously enters the temple, and begins a room-by-room search. He suddenly hears the sound of swords clashing a few rooms away, and proceeds in that direction. He then hears the sound of multiple armored footsteps coming from behind him, and quickly hides behind a pile of debris as three armored half-orc guards charge past him in the direction of the swordfight. Phraakeese draws his sword and follows.

Two rooms away, the party is dealing with a half-dozen orcs who they encountered upon their return to the temple from the tunnels below. Phuddipeduzh was leading the team, and took the brunt of the attacks, with him now on the verge of collapsing as the other party members move up to fight the orcs. As the last of the orcs fall a trio of half-orc reinforcements charge into the fray. The party dispatches two, and the third turns and runs out of the room, and directly into Phraakeese, who dispatches the surprised enemy with two sword swipes.

The party is surprised to see Phraakeese, and ask him about the second wave. He has lost track of the time, but figures it has been close to an hour, and says “They should be starting the attack any time now.” Moments later, sounds of explosions are heard coming from outside.

Klaaze and Freyland had initiated the attack, with a frontal assault on one of the first building full of orcs, with Klaaze kicking in the door and charging in swinging his sword, with the gnome right behind him, swinging his battleaxe into any orcs that Klaaze failed to kill. Boz, Lysdashi and Tao charge the building with the ogres, tossing flaming bottles of oil inside resulting in some spectacular explosions that alert the others to start the attack.

Serita and Melina both set fire to the roof of a corner building and then attack its occupants as they exit. Lone and Tonto have paired up with two of Hartmann’s associates who also wish to shut down the slaving operation, a paladin named Sir Marmaduke and an elvan fighter named Mojo, and the four of them take on a building in the other corner. Mark has been partnered with another of Hartmann’s friends, a female illusionist named Crystal, who are positioned to keep the foes from escaping back into town. Any foes that manage to slip past them are stopped by either the ship’s First Mate Jacob or the spaceman named Ron.

The fifteen adventurers make an impressive force to be reckoned with, and by the end of the first ten rounds of battle over half of the orcs and orges have been slain, and all of the buildings that they had resided in are on fire. The remaining foes split into three groups. One group joins the ogre leader who charges the part, consuming a potion that makes him grow to the size of a Stone Giant, with the proportional increase in strength. A second group assembles around the orc leader. The third group retreats to the temple.

The adventurers decide to concentrate their attacks on the oversized ogre, with him becoming the recipient of multiple arrows and spells. Ron is able to successfully fire his laser rifle into the monster’s brain, killing him, and he collapses. Without their leader, the foes around him are quickly defeated. Meanwhile, Serita manages to catch the orc leader within an insect swarm, which prompts him and his group to surrender. The group that ran back to the temple head to the nearest door, which is locked, and they bang on it to be let inside.

Coincidentally, this door is to the same room that the adventuring team within the temple are currently standing in. They hear the pounding on the door, and then hear in orcish “Let us in! We’re going to get killed out here!” “What should we do?” Blake asks. Phuddi answers “I say we let them in,” signaling the others to get into position, while also directing Jamie, Karroway and Silas to head down the hallway to get to the stables. The doors are opened, and most of the orcs and ogres charge into the ambush and are immediately cut down.

Six more still outside break off to the left and right, four heading towards the stables and two towards another room, which Natasha and Carole hurry to get to from inside of the temple. The ones who rush into the stable are ambushed by the other three, and it does not take the women long to track down and eliminate the final two, with Natasha taking a near fatal hit in the process. Those inside of the temple regroup inside of the stables. Kharole enters the stable without Natasha, but Phuddi is able to Detect Evil on her and reveals it to be a doppelganger. The monster is dispatched, and the real Kharole soon arrives with Natasha

The outside group has now dispatched all of the enemies and decide to hurry back to the ship before the town’s authorities arrive to arrest them, with the townspeople currently preoccupied by the fires to see the battle debris beyond it. They bringing along the captured orc prisoners. Klaaze manages to snag a number of items from the fallen foes, tossing them into his Bag of Holding. They manage to safely make their way back to the ship, and then split up the treasure that had been found.

Back in the stable, the party concludes that the loft is a safe enough place to rest. Both Natasha and Phuddipeduzh are in no shape to continue, and Phraakeese volunteers to take his wife and the paladin back to the ship. He says he will send back some of the others to bring their team back up to fighting strength. The trio are able to get out of the temple and away through the woods, making it back to the harbor and ship.

Once back at the ship volunteers are asked for to go take Narg, Natasha and Phuddipeduzh’s place. Klaaze, Lone, Lysdashi, Mojo and Tonto all volunteer. Phraakeese gives them directions, and they make their way back, with the rangers Lone and Lysdashi leading the way. They eventually join up with the others, and Mojo is introduced to the rest of the party. He says he had originally worked with a team known as the Liebercrantz Adventurers, who had previously fought a similar slaving operation, and was investigating to see if these slavers were affiliated with them. The reinforcement group takes up guard positions while the remainder of the party rests.

Back on the ship, the orc prisoners are questioned. One orc is cooperative, agreeing to help the party in exchange for his freedom and the sparing of his mate and son. He agrees to lead the party back to their lair, ten hours travel to the southwest. Looking at a map of the area, Tao, Isaiah and Tolbyrne recognize this lair is across the border in the Kaloon Lordholding, and is part of the Caves of Chaos, where they had adventured the previous autumn (Module #5). Tolbyrne remembered that area well, and agreed to accompany the group. Joining him and the orc are Crystal, Jacob, Mark, Melina, Ron Luther, Serita, and Sir Marmaduke. They travel throughout the night.

[DM’s Note #59: The reason for the side trip to the orc lair was that my grandmother had taken ill and I needed to travel to the Midwest to see her, not knowing how long I would be away. Natasha’s player had always been my back-up DM, but Natasha and Phuddi’s players were getting married in a few days and then going away on their honeymoon. So Narg’s player agreed to step in, and DM part of TSR’s Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands until I returned. Each player kept their primary character in Clearwater, sending their secondary character off on the side mission. As I had planned to set Module A2 a ways off to the southwest this would also tie in well with that.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 48, “The Party Falls”, July 6th, 1006:

The group remains in the loft sleeping through the day. Enemies had gone into the stables a couple of times, but never climbed up to the loft. The party decides to wait until it is dark outside to move on again. They begin by heading back down into the tunnels, but then run into some humaoind insects who put up quite a fight.

They travel back in the direction of the temple via a different route, finding a section that is blocked by a collapsed floor. It takes them far longer to get passed this area than they had expected, with it being nearly two hours later by the time they get everyone across. They move on, making their way back through the temple, climbing back up to a large courtyard. Based on the position of the moon above they determine that it is close to midnight.

July 7th, 1006:

They next come upon a room with six orcs and four half-orcs next to some type of odd mechanism. The party has no idea what the item is, but Khraole decides to eliminate it, tossing a Fireball onto it and the monsters. This destroys the device and eliminates all except for a pair of enemies, who Vincenzo and Klaaze make short work of. The drawback to her having thrown the spell is that the entire temple is now alerted to their presence.

The party hastily moves onward, finding several places where doors and protculleses have been shut to keep them out. They hurry through a long statue filled corridor, and several statues fall over on top of Blake, Kharole and Tonto. At the far end of the room is a troll as well as a few orcs. These monsters run away, with the party in pursuit. The party charge into a huge temple chamber occupied by a large number of enemies. The door slams shut behind them, and the party realize too late that they have been herded into a trap.

An assassin hiding near the entraceway stabs a poisoned weapon into Kharole, as the enemy cleric casts a Hold Person spell onto Karroway, Lysdashi and Klaaze. All four players then fail their respective saving throws. As Kharole collapes Jamie takes the Timothy Sword, and hurls it like a javelin at her. The sword stikes Kharole, and both she and the sword blink out of existance, Timothy now having the second companion on his quest, with the action also saving Kharole’s life.

The remaining seven party members are too preoccupied with fighting their own opponents to be able to try to get the other three fighters free of the Hold spell, and the enemy takes advanatage of this by capturing and tying up the three caught in the spell. Blake, Lone and Tonto are the lowest level members of the party present, and all three soon fall under the overhwhelming force of their opponents, who then concentrate their attacks on Jamie, Mojo and Vincenzo, with Silas having disappeared.

Silas had consumed an invisiblity potion and now reappears behind the enemy cleric,. He successfully strikes her, but he is then stuck down by her Slave Lord companion. At this point all three still standing party members have been separated from each other, with four to six enemies attacking each of them. As Mojo falls Vincenzo decides it is a hopeless situation, and uses his Boots of Levitation to get out of melee weapons range long enough to cast a Sanctuary spell on himself. He then exits the room, looking back at the door to see Jamie fall, and feeling eternally guilty for deserting his party.

It is nearly 3:00 A.M. by the time he returns to the ship, and informs the remaining seven party members about what has happened. Tao tells him to calm down, pointing out that since the enemies are slavers they are unlikely to kill the party, and will probably sell them into slavery instead. Natasha head back to keep watch on the temple. Tao uses his Speak with Animals ability to send a bird west to relay what has happened to the other party, and instructs them to return to Clearwater.

Meanwhile, the other group have reached the Caves of Chaos, where they managed to destroy the orc lair. They then moved on to an adjacent hobgoblin lair, wiping out that tribe as well. The caves are searched for treasure. The party exits the caves by mid-afternnoon, and set up a camp. The bird finds them a short while later, with Serita casting a Speak with Animals to translate the message. The party decides to head back towards the city to rescue their allies.

Once the sun begins to set in Clearwater Natasha notices considerable movement from the temple, with a large convoy exiting the building and heading out on the southeastern road. She determines that a caravan consists of around three-dozen slavers, and that they are transporting around two-dozen slaves, including the ten captured party members. She hurries back to the ship, and Tao dispatches another bird to the second group, with the message “The slavers are heading your way. Find a good place to ambush them. We will be following.” All eight party members from the ship, naemly Boz, Freyland, Isaiah, Natasha, Phraakeese, Phuddipeduzh, Tao and Vincenzo, then head out in persuit of the slavers.

[DM’s Note #60: The lack of detail for the “Caves of Chaos” segment was due to my being away and nobody else taking notes. The temple climax battle in Module A1 went in a very unexpected direction, as that battle is one that the party is supposed to win. Fortunately for them, the characters were worth more to the slavers alive than dead. I then scheduled a mid-week pick-up game with Kharole, Narg and Timothy’s players to deal with Timothy’s quest prior to the next week’s game.

As there was potential for all 28 of the party’s characters to be present at the upcoming battle/rescue I decided to have the slaver caravan rendevoous with another group of slavers, taken directly from Module A2: Secret of the Slaver’s Stockade, in order to make it a more challenging game. I also decided at this point to skip Modules A3 and A4, since A3 ends with the party getting captured and A4 involves their escape, which struck me as being too repetitive of the current situation. Plus, I hadn’t anticiapted that Narg’s player would be around for the games, or that he would bring Mojo’s player into the group, both of whom had already played that pair of modules in our other gaming group.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 49, “Interlude at Gladshiem”, July 7th, 1006:

Kharole, Narg and Timothy appear on the plane of Gladshiem. Ilma, the warrior maiden of Ukko stands before them. All three appear to be fully healed of any wounds. Standing beside her is a human warrior who she introduces as Tiera. He explains that he is a ranger, and was the shield guardian (similar to a squire) for the great Lemminkainen (Deities and Demigods page #54). He gives them a short history of Lemminkainen’s accomplishments, and the events that led to the ascended hero’s demise.

Ilma then explains how Lemminkainen did not ascended to be with Ukko as he should have, his spirit being hijacked by the Finnish deity Hissi. The Norse deities Magni and Modi, sons of Thor, have agreed to rescue him in exchange for assistance in the giant lands outside of Asgard. Tiera has pledged himself to this quest, and it is this same mission that Timothy and his two chosen companions must now undertake. Ilma explains how they are all now standing at the border of the plane of Gladshiem, which non-Asgardian deities and divine servants may not enter per a decree by Odin. She gives the quartet directions on how and where to proceed.

They travel for several hours though the fields and hill of the plane of Gladshiem, until they find a mystical fountain that Ilma had directed them to. At that point three beings of light appear before them. These beings speak directly into the minds of the four adventurers, and explain that they represent the past, present and future. “Who do they think we are? Scrooge?” Narg comments. The first being speaks, and the fountain then shows them each images from their pasts.

The being representing the present then explains why they are there. The mission that they are charged with is to assist the Durin Dwarves of the realm. These dwarves mine a mystical ore known as Mitheral, which is used to create the enchanted weapons used by the deities of this realm. The dwarves have recently been prevented from reaching their mine to obtain the ore by a pair of Fire Giants who have taken up residence at the mouth of the mine cave. The party’s mission is to defeat these giants. “Great!” Narg enthusiastically proclaims. The quartet chooses to rest for the night and proceed onward at dawn.

July 8th, 1006:

The four travel following the directions given to them by the dwarves. As they approach the caves the Fire Giants spell the intruders in their midst, and mount an attack. Using great coordination and teamwork, with Narg and Tiera fighting alongside each other and protecting each other’s backs, supported by spells from behind by both Timothy and Kharole, the two giants are soon slain.

The heroes return to the dwarves and tell of their victory. The dwarves have a grand celebration in their honor, and present each of the heroes with a present made of Mitheral. The four then head back towards the fountain, befriending a pair of Brass Dragons along the way.

They reach the fountain. The being representing the future offers to show each of them their futures. All except for Tiera decline, with him seeing a long rich life and family ahead of him. The being representing the present shows Tiera his home in the present, and says that his entering the fountain during this viewing will transport him there. He walks into the fountain, the water parting and encircling him without his getting wet, and the others then see him at the other location.

The being asks the others where in the present they wish to travel. “Can you show us our friends?” Kharole asks. “I can”, the being replies. The image in the fountain depicts a large group caravan of over fifty orc, half-orc, troll and human slavers traveling along a roadway surrounded by hills, rocks and low trees. They recognize several of the bound slaves within caged wagons as allies of them. The being then shows them another group of their friends waiting to launch an ambush a short distance ahead, and a third group of their friends trailing the caravan from behind.

The being asks, “Which of these groups do you want the fountain to focus upon for your journey back.” They discuss this, with Narg wanting to arrive in the midst of the slavers and Kharole favoring the ambush group ahead. Timothy suggests, “Why don’t we just continue to wait here, see when and where we are needed the most, and then go?” Kharole agrees with Timothy’s suggestion. Narg grumbles about having to wait until after the attack has begun, not wanting to miss out on any of the action, but acquiesces to the suggestion of the others.

[DM’s Note #61: The above was a very fun pick-up game that all four of us enjoyed. My source material for Asgard was the then current run of Marvel Comic’s Thor comic book, which the artist/writer Walt Simonson had based heavily upon Norse mythology.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter #50, “Shutting down the Slavers,” July 8th, 1006:

Jacob, Mark, Melina, Serita, Sir Marmaduke and Tolbyrne wait as the slaver’s caravan approaches them, at a spot in the road with a thicker group of trees alongside it. Serita begins the attack by casting an Entangle spell upon the trees, having them grab the orcs and half-orcs in the lead. The fighters emerge from their hiding spots in pairs, with Sir Marmaduke and Jacob attacking the caravan wagon guards on the left while Mark and Melina strike the guards on the right. Tolbyrne fires off Magic Missile spells, with the target being the locks on the slave cages.

As the fighters continue their assault Serita tosses Heat Metal spells onto the armor of the Slave Lord leaders. The four fighters have dropped the foes closest to the slave wagons, and rather than then charging any others, pull back together to a spot where some rocks and trees provide additional cover, and pick up the bows and arrows that they had placed their. The orcan slavers in the first line charging at them are then cut down by arrow fire.

Each slave cage has a few guards inside it as well, who draw their weapons to keep their still-chained captives from considering an escape. Tolbyrne casts Sleep spells at the slave wagons to stop these guards. It is somewhat successful, with all but two guards in one of the cages falling asleep. The spells also cause most of the slaves to fall sleep as well.

One slave who does not fall asleep is Klaaze, who is in the same cage as the two still awake guards. He uses his strength to break the manacles holding his legs to the floor of the cage. He is unable to break the chains binding his arms together, so decides instead to use the chain as a weapon. He swings the chains three times into the first slaver, the first causing the half-orc to drop his weapon, and the following two hits knocking the foe into unconsciousness. Seeing this, the remaining slaver attempts to flee, trying to unlock the gate to the cage. Klaaze changes up from behind, crossing his arms across each other to create a loop with the chain, which he then loops over the half-orcs head and around its neck. He then uses his exceptional strength to pull, killing the foe.

Once the caravan had stopped, the group following it charged forward. Tao and Natasha are the first from this group to arrive at the caravan, and engage the slavers at the rear of the caravan in battle. A silence spell envelops the area surrounding the enemy cleric, who then charges forward to escape the spell’s area of effect. She and the other three Slave Lords fall back, and call the other slavers to surround and protect them. The party clerics Isaiah and Vincenzo work together to catch most of these guards in Hold Person spells.

Up front, Serita moves into position to now catch both of the trolls in Entangle spells, as Jacob, Mark, Melina and Marmaduke drop their bows and charge the slave cages, to assist Klaaze in freeing the other slaves. The sleeping party members are woken up and unlocked from their shackles. Jamie, Lone, Lysdashi, Mojo, Silas and Tonto all arm themselves with swords taken from the fallen slavers, and join in the fighting against their former captors.

Boz, Freyland, Phuddipeduzh and Phraakeese make a charge from the rear at the slave lords, cutting down any who are not held by the Hold Person spells. Phuddipeduzh gets lucky with his vorpal blade, taking out the top enemy cleric in his first swing, however the remaining three Slave Lords prove to be have more than sufficient ability to fight this quartet, with Boz and Freyland both quickly reduced to single digit hit points, at which point they pull back. Simultaneous to that, the Holds on the remaining guards wear off, with the now rather wounded Phuddipeduzh and Phaakeese finding them surrounded.

Just then, Narg, Timothy and Kharole appear beside them, with Kharole tossing a Fireball a bit behind the Slave Lords, catching them within it but stopping just short of the five party members. Timothy tosses another Hold Person on the unheld guards, refreezing half of them, as Narg and Phraakeese both attack the remaining ones.

The Slave Lord leader takes minimal damage from the Fireball, and charges towards the front of the caravan, only to be stopped by Sir Marmaduke and Tao who block his path. He turns around, to find that path of escape now blocked by Phuddipeduzh, who had followed him. A short battle follows, during which the two paladins and the monk defeat the slaver.

Meanwhile, an assassin Slave Lord had also survived the Fireball and attempted to sneak away beneath the wagons, only to have been spotted by Natasha who cut him off both figuratively and literally. His assassin apprentice attempts to exact vengeance upon her for killing his master, but fails and winds up sharing his master’s fate (as Natasha’s player rolls up a pair of natural 20’s).

The trolls have managed to get free of the Entangle, only to have Serita then Entangle them again. Before they can escape a second time Kharole throws a pair of fatal Fireballs onto them. The few slavers that remain are now greatly outnumbered and are soon defeated.

[DM’s Note #62: This was quite a game, with a record number of fourteen players in attendance, playing twenty-eight separate characters. This was the first game since Natasha and Phuddipeduzh’s players returned from their honeymoon; Mojo’s player continued to be a guest at the games; and the game was also last one during my Navy friend’s extended leave before shipping out to his next assignment. What I didn’t realize at the time was that for our gaming group it was also the end of an era, as a number of key players would soon be leaving the group.]