The Grey Cloak Council Campaign Background Thread [RESTORED]

[Aust Thale]

Robhuud the Quick Attacks!

~ I don't think this is a good strategy. I can't use fire spells indoors if I don't have a clear target. ~

Robhuud moves as he casts toward the evil cleric. The conversation between the ghost and the cleric is dark and desperate and full of hate.
With resolve, Robhuud steps forward into line of sight with the cleric, moving his hands and delivering a withering staccato stream of words toward him.
Energy leaps from his body, pushing Robhuud's body into a pose not unlike being pushed away from a hug or embrace, and rushing toward the cleric.

"Stop."

OOC: Robhuud casts Hold Person toward the evil cleric. If the spell fails, Robhuud awaits additional turns. If the spell succeeds (DC 17), then he shouts an admonition to the rest of the party to stop the attack!

(Assuming the spell succeeds), "Cleric! Hold your pet still! You command the ghost. Hold it, and we shall leave you to your disagreement. If you do not, we will destroy you both!"

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Library Game Day Update

GM: Ok, so we played the Grey Cloak Campaign at the recent Tabletop Group Game Day at our local library. Here's the long and short of what happened: 1. Lareth the Beautiful was defeated and taken prisoner. 2. Wat the Ghostly Assassin was destroyed, and his hostel burned to the ground. 3. Lareth was taken back to Hommlet, to Rufus & Burne's fortress, where he was questioned. 4. Lareth is now a prisoner in Burne's dungeon. 5. From questioning, the party was able to learn the following: ...a. Lareth is a follower of the Elder Elemental Eye, and despises the Cult of Tharizdun. ...b. Lareth now realizes that the Elemental Eye followers were the puppets of Tharizdun's cult all along. ...c. Lareth and Wat are (were) both loyal followers of the Elder Elemental Eye. They both died in the battle of the First Temple, more than 15 years ago. ...d. Lareth was resurrected, but somehow, his face remained mutilated. He feels betrayed by Festrath, whom he believes did it on purpose. ...e. Wat was loyal to The Eye even after death, and even after becoming a Ghost. ...f. The Cult of Tharizdun has plans for Lareth; he plays some important part in their scheme, which is why he was resurrected to begin with. ...g. Lareth was left to languish in the abandoned village of Nulb because the cultists knew it was the last place anyone would look for him. ...h. The old Temple of Elemental Evil is overrun and controlled by a tribe of Hobgoblins. It is uncertain if they follow The Eye, or if their loyalties lie elsewhere. ...i. There is a new temple, either already built, or nearing completion, in the mountains, near the village of Rastor. ...j. The party has reason to suspect that Rastor is probably full of cultist spies, just as Hommlet was. Derrith says he will be running his Detect Evil powers when the party sets out for that place. 6. The party has decided to explore the Old Temple first, since it is the closest, in an attempt to find out what the Hobgoblins there are up to, and thwart their plans. 7. After the Old Temple has been investigated, the plan is to travel to Rastor. 8. At the close of the session, the party ran across a patrolling band of 13 Hobgoblins. The rest of the party hid in the trees, while Osprey stepped out and taunted them, daring them to cross the river and face him. The session ended with a call for initiative, as the Hobgoblins sneered, and began to draw their bows... 9. This combat will be resolved in a future in-person session, and then the roleplaying part will continue here, on this thread.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

More Session Notes

GM: We have played one more tabletop session since the Library Day session, and here are the compiled notes. Some of these notes provide more details about the Library Day session, while the remaining notes detail the two battles that occurred in the most recent session.

GM: [MORE NOTES ON THE LIBRARY DAY SESSION: ] The party returns to Hommlett in order to turn Lareth over to Rufus & Burne. Party arrives in Hommlett on Patchwall 24th, CY 963. Burne pays the party a 10,000 gp. bounty for the capture of Lareth. Burne identifies the magic items that the party found. This requires 1 day of downtime. Jonwaine gets the Cloak of the Arachnid. Derrith gets the Ghost Touch Longsword. Each party member receives 450 xp. pts. for destroying Lareth’s shield. Party teleports back to Nulb on the morning of Patchwall 26th. From Nulb, the party follows the abandoned road toward the ruined temple. On the journey, the party encounters the aforementioned 13 Hobgoblins. [END OF LIBRARY DAY SESSION] There is a fight, and three Hobgoblins are killed. The other 10, seeing that they are over-matched, flee back into the abandoned village (Nulb.) [END OF IN-BETWEEN SESSION] [MOST RECENT SESSION AT THREE SUNS COMIC SHOP: ] Mavet’s owl, who is flying overhead, sees the building that the Hobgoblins go into; the owl lands on the roof, so that the party can easily discover their hiding place. The party assaults the dilapidated building from the front and the back, hemming in the Hobgoblins, preventing their escape. After a desperate battle (on the part of the Hobgoblins) the remaining Hobgoblins are killed, and the party finds that they have been busy; the Hobgoblins had a total of 420 gp. on them. The party takes the coins, and dumps their armor and gear in the river, so that other Hobgoblins cannot find and re-use it. The party resumes their journey, and after 4 un-eventful hours of travel, reach the ruins of the Old Temple. The party approaches the temple from the north side, and comes in through the gap in the ruined wall. They examine an empty building, finding nothing of interest. Then the party comes to another building, and finds three Hobgoblins (a female Shaman, and two of her Bodyguards) holed up in what used to be the temple’s wine cellar; after a brief, but exciting battle, the Hobgoblins are dispatched. This is where the session ended. At this point it is approximately 2:30 PM in the afternoon, on Patchwall 26th, CY 963.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: Although the last post here was 2+ years ago, there have been in-person sessions which have occurred in the interim. The party has made it to the hamlet of Rastor, discovered the Tanbrosh addiction, and dealt with it. They also discovered a tribe of Wendol in the area that had been causing trouble for the settlement, and called in allies to deal with the problem. The party discovered the deception of Tal Chammish, and brought his operation to an end in a spectacular bar fight which resulted in his capture. Del Tan Rah used clerical magic, along with his innate celestial abilities, to heal everyone in the town over a period of two weeks. This healing soon came to be known as "The Miracle at Rastor." Many of the citizens of this town are now building shrines to Rah, and begging for Del Tan to stay and establish a church. The party moved on to the crater ridge mines, and using disguises, managed to slip into the mines undetected; wearing the robes and necklaces of the air temple, they were able to fool the guards at the outer doors. However, when they got inside, they entered the Gnoll barracks at area 79, and they were discovered; the party was then forced to kill the 8 Gnolls they found there. The game will start in room 79, as the party begins to explore elsewhere.

Spoiler: Map of Current Area

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: DM's NOTE: The party was disguised, wearing cultist robes, and cultist amulets, and acted well enough to convince the Gnoll guards to let them in to Area #80; the party passed through area #80, and Osprey spotted the sniper on the ledge (#81) as the party passed by. The sniper is a warrior with a crossbow. The disguises fool him, and he simply nods in acknowledgement as the party passes by. The party enters room #79, and closes the door behind them. They are forced to kill the 8 Gnolls that are lounging there. (It's a barracks.) Spoiler: DM ONLY Wisdom check for guard (to wonder why the cultists went into the Gnoll barracks.) DC 10. Check = (14) success. Guard will now automatically hear the commotion coming from the barracks, as the party kills the 8 Gnolls. He will alert the forces in Room #78.

Looking around at the dead Gnolls, Osprey gets a sour look on his face.

Osprey mutters, "Someone definitely heard this battle. The sniper at the front has probably warned someone already. When we leave this room, we'll probably have company waiting in the hallway."

EVERYONE: What do you do?