Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter 31, “Leaving the Caves”, April 6th, 1006 (Day Fourteen)
The party reaches a chamber that appears to be some type of temple. The still frazzled torchbearer refuses the enter, so Klaaze charges forward to lead the party. They are attacked by a group of sixteen gargoyles. The party enters into the battle, with Phuddi’s Vorpal Blade and Narg’s Sword of Sharpness being the most effective against them. Four of the monsters are slain by the time that the temple’s cleric arrives and starts tossing spells at them.
Between the gargoyles and the cleric the party start to find themselves on the loosing side of the battle. Augustine is killed, and Klaaze is reduced to but a few hit points. Kharole goes up to Klaaze and says “I might be able to use that robe to save us.” The fighter pulls it out of his pack, and she puts it on. She can now see various magical patches attached to it, each with their own power. She pulls off one marked “create pit”, attaches it to her magical throwing dagger, and tosses it at the ground beneath the enemy mage. A ten-foot deep pit opens below him, catching him by surprise.
Once the cleric disappears from view the remaining gargoyles decide to fly away. The party all charge up to the pit, seeing the mage at the bottom attempting to stand up. Before the enemy can throw any spells Kharole tosses Magic Missiles into him, followed by a steady barrage of arrows the all of the party’s archers. This continues until the man is dead. The body is then searched, and the party's cleric uses the rod to resurrect Augustine.
The staircase down to the final level is discovered nearby. Freyland leads the way, finding sections of the staircase to be trapped. The traps are sprung without harming the party, although the gnome looses his two best daggers. The bottom of the staircase is a large forested area, and the party decide to rest there before moving on.
The night is interrupted by the arrival of a human ranger named Lone. He states that he has no home, spending his time searching for those in need. He had wandered into these caves through a tunnel that collapsed behind him, and has been looking for another way out. He agrees to accompany the party, but is unwilling to travel with them to another world.
[Chronicler’s Note #45: My best friend had just come home on leave from the United States Navy, and asked if he could play. The DM agreed, planning to give him the NPC cleric Penzance. However, following a two-week absence, Hherrmyie’s player surprisingly arrived at the game, so the DM decided to give him Penzance instead. The “Lone Ranger” character was quickly thrown together for my friend, a variation of a D&D character he had played in the service.]
They move on, crossing through a room filled with sleeping alligators. They then find that the following room is occupied by an ancient red dragon, that is also sleeping. The party attempt to sneak through the room, but the sound of the clanging armor wakes the dragon. Augustine attempts to negotiate with it. Klaaze then intervenes, and insults the monster, which breathes a blast of fire onto the fighter. Not deterred by that, Klaaze continues to try to negotiate with the dragon. The dragon is somehow aware of the giant diamond that had been taken back on the second level, and asks for that as payment of passage.
Klaaze denies that the party has the diamond, even though it is sitting within his own backpack. The discussions continue without much success. Finally, Phuddipeduzh says to Klaaze “This is pointless. Just give him the diamond Klaaze.” The dragon roars upward, and yells to Klaaze “You lied to me lowly human!”, and then blasts him with a second and more powerful blast of fire, that incinerates the fighter. The rest of the party find the slightly charred but still intact gem from Klaaze’s pack, and give it to the dragon. It allows them to leave, taking Klaaze’s body with them.
The group moves on until they reach a safe location. The party then discuss resurrecting Klaaze. Everyone wishes to try to bring back their most powerful fighter except for the newly acquired cleric Penzance, who insists that he died foolishly, and should remain that way. Since Penzance is the only one who can actually use the Rod this creates quite a stand-off. The cleric is eventually coerced into complying, and Klaaze is brought back.
The group eventually find the dimensional doorway that will take them to another world. They bid the Lone Ranger a fond farewell. Kharole and Klaaze volunteer to lead, and the party then all exit the cave through the portal. The journey is not instantaneous, with them appearing to be falling through a multi-hued tunnel of light. It takes a good quarter hour before they eventually land in a grassy hilltop on the world known as Thibaultia.
Augustine gets his bearings. He notes that in the region they are in the season is now early autumn, the equivalent of mid-September. He tells them that the city of Specularum, their destination, a few days away to the west. He points towards a lake, instructing them that they need to follow a river that flows westward from it that leads to the city. He says that he must leave them for a short time, as there are protocols of his monastic order that must be observed now that he is back on his home world. He departs. The party travel westward for several miles, then stop for the night.
Day Fifteen (April 7th, 1006 at home, September 13th on Thibaultia):
The group reaches the lake and soon find a trail alongside the river. The day proves to be uneventful until dusk, when the party is attacked by a group of 28 creatures that looked similar but slightly different than lizardmen. A major battle follows. During the battle several of the party get bitten by the creatures. The monsters are soon defeated, and the party move on. The group soon decides to stop and rest for the night.
Of all of those who had been bitten by the monsters, only Penzance failed to make his Save vs. Poison, and he now begins to feel disoriented. He suddenly decides that the adventurers are all his enemies and attacks them. The party grabs the cleric to prevent him from casting spells. Penzance pulls a magical dagger from it's sheathe on Mark’s belt and stabs it into Klaaze, doing only minor damage. The fighter backs up and the party surrounds the cleric, instructing him to calm down and drop the weapon. The cleric then plunges the dagger into his owns heart and falls dead at their feet.
The party debates whether they should resurrect him. They conclude that both his usage of an edged weapon and behavior towards the party would have put him in violation of the dictates of his religion, and that even if brought back he would probably be stripped of his clerical abilities. They decide to bury him instead.
[Chronicler’s Note #46: The DM’s only instruction to the player was that the poison made his character feel dizzy. It was entirely the player’s idea to have the character attack the party and then kill himself. Given both this encounter and the prior refusal of Penzance to assist Klaaze, it was obvious that Hherrmyie’s player was still angry at the group and had no intention of being cooperative.
After the game the player intentionally damaged the vehicle of the player who gave him a ride home. Prior to the next game he was unanimously voted out of the group.]
The party reaches a chamber that appears to be some type of temple. The still frazzled torchbearer refuses the enter, so Klaaze charges forward to lead the party. They are attacked by a group of sixteen gargoyles. The party enters into the battle, with Phuddi’s Vorpal Blade and Narg’s Sword of Sharpness being the most effective against them. Four of the monsters are slain by the time that the temple’s cleric arrives and starts tossing spells at them.
Between the gargoyles and the cleric the party start to find themselves on the loosing side of the battle. Augustine is killed, and Klaaze is reduced to but a few hit points. Kharole goes up to Klaaze and says “I might be able to use that robe to save us.” The fighter pulls it out of his pack, and she puts it on. She can now see various magical patches attached to it, each with their own power. She pulls off one marked “create pit”, attaches it to her magical throwing dagger, and tosses it at the ground beneath the enemy mage. A ten-foot deep pit opens below him, catching him by surprise.
Once the cleric disappears from view the remaining gargoyles decide to fly away. The party all charge up to the pit, seeing the mage at the bottom attempting to stand up. Before the enemy can throw any spells Kharole tosses Magic Missiles into him, followed by a steady barrage of arrows the all of the party’s archers. This continues until the man is dead. The body is then searched, and the party's cleric uses the rod to resurrect Augustine.
The staircase down to the final level is discovered nearby. Freyland leads the way, finding sections of the staircase to be trapped. The traps are sprung without harming the party, although the gnome looses his two best daggers. The bottom of the staircase is a large forested area, and the party decide to rest there before moving on.
The night is interrupted by the arrival of a human ranger named Lone. He states that he has no home, spending his time searching for those in need. He had wandered into these caves through a tunnel that collapsed behind him, and has been looking for another way out. He agrees to accompany the party, but is unwilling to travel with them to another world.
[Chronicler’s Note #45: My best friend had just come home on leave from the United States Navy, and asked if he could play. The DM agreed, planning to give him the NPC cleric Penzance. However, following a two-week absence, Hherrmyie’s player surprisingly arrived at the game, so the DM decided to give him Penzance instead. The “Lone Ranger” character was quickly thrown together for my friend, a variation of a D&D character he had played in the service.]
They move on, crossing through a room filled with sleeping alligators. They then find that the following room is occupied by an ancient red dragon, that is also sleeping. The party attempt to sneak through the room, but the sound of the clanging armor wakes the dragon. Augustine attempts to negotiate with it. Klaaze then intervenes, and insults the monster, which breathes a blast of fire onto the fighter. Not deterred by that, Klaaze continues to try to negotiate with the dragon. The dragon is somehow aware of the giant diamond that had been taken back on the second level, and asks for that as payment of passage.
Klaaze denies that the party has the diamond, even though it is sitting within his own backpack. The discussions continue without much success. Finally, Phuddipeduzh says to Klaaze “This is pointless. Just give him the diamond Klaaze.” The dragon roars upward, and yells to Klaaze “You lied to me lowly human!”, and then blasts him with a second and more powerful blast of fire, that incinerates the fighter. The rest of the party find the slightly charred but still intact gem from Klaaze’s pack, and give it to the dragon. It allows them to leave, taking Klaaze’s body with them.
The group moves on until they reach a safe location. The party then discuss resurrecting Klaaze. Everyone wishes to try to bring back their most powerful fighter except for the newly acquired cleric Penzance, who insists that he died foolishly, and should remain that way. Since Penzance is the only one who can actually use the Rod this creates quite a stand-off. The cleric is eventually coerced into complying, and Klaaze is brought back.
The group eventually find the dimensional doorway that will take them to another world. They bid the Lone Ranger a fond farewell. Kharole and Klaaze volunteer to lead, and the party then all exit the cave through the portal. The journey is not instantaneous, with them appearing to be falling through a multi-hued tunnel of light. It takes a good quarter hour before they eventually land in a grassy hilltop on the world known as Thibaultia.
Augustine gets his bearings. He notes that in the region they are in the season is now early autumn, the equivalent of mid-September. He tells them that the city of Specularum, their destination, a few days away to the west. He points towards a lake, instructing them that they need to follow a river that flows westward from it that leads to the city. He says that he must leave them for a short time, as there are protocols of his monastic order that must be observed now that he is back on his home world. He departs. The party travel westward for several miles, then stop for the night.
Day Fifteen (April 7th, 1006 at home, September 13th on Thibaultia):
The group reaches the lake and soon find a trail alongside the river. The day proves to be uneventful until dusk, when the party is attacked by a group of 28 creatures that looked similar but slightly different than lizardmen. A major battle follows. During the battle several of the party get bitten by the creatures. The monsters are soon defeated, and the party move on. The group soon decides to stop and rest for the night.
Of all of those who had been bitten by the monsters, only Penzance failed to make his Save vs. Poison, and he now begins to feel disoriented. He suddenly decides that the adventurers are all his enemies and attacks them. The party grabs the cleric to prevent him from casting spells. Penzance pulls a magical dagger from it's sheathe on Mark’s belt and stabs it into Klaaze, doing only minor damage. The fighter backs up and the party surrounds the cleric, instructing him to calm down and drop the weapon. The cleric then plunges the dagger into his owns heart and falls dead at their feet.
The party debates whether they should resurrect him. They conclude that both his usage of an edged weapon and behavior towards the party would have put him in violation of the dictates of his religion, and that even if brought back he would probably be stripped of his clerical abilities. They decide to bury him instead.
[Chronicler’s Note #46: The DM’s only instruction to the player was that the poison made his character feel dizzy. It was entirely the player’s idea to have the character attack the party and then kill himself. Given both this encounter and the prior refusal of Penzance to assist Klaaze, it was obvious that Hherrmyie’s player was still angry at the group and had no intention of being cooperative.
After the game the player intentionally damaged the vehicle of the player who gave him a ride home. Prior to the next game he was unanimously voted out of the group.]