War Golem's Return of Khaos (Updated 8/10 & 8/11)

[War Golem]

This campaign story hour picks up 2 years in, real time. The party is known as The Questioning, and the over-arching theme of the campaign at this point is that they are trying to prevent the return of a group of ancient beings known as Khaos Lords, eight extra-dimensional beings of pure evil and chaos.

Here is a run-down on the members of the Questioning. At the time the action starts, they are all in the 11-13th level range:

Bytnr, NG human rogue. Bytnr is a plain looking human with brown hair. He wears leathers and fights with a sword and bow.
Bytnr is confident, relaxed and a bit cocky.

Falko, LG dwarven fighter (NPC). Falko is ex-military. He was originally assigned to a mission with the Questioning, and has since resigned his commission and joined them full-time. He is powerfully built, and wears dwarven plate and shield. He specializes with the dwarven war axe.
Falko is very slow, but has a pair of moon bracers that let him dimension door once per day. This is tremendously helpful in combat situations.
Falko is determined, loyal and very by-the-book, which often leaves him frustrated with his more chaotic companions.

Heian Nailö, CG elven ranger/fighter/deepwood stalker. Heian is a young elf with green eyes, gray hair and tanned skin. A childhood accident has left a small scar on his left temple. His adventuring garb is studded leather and a large cloak. He wears a prominent pair of gloves, and dual wields his two swords.
Heian is impatient, serious and sometimes surly. But he has a strong sense of responsibility, and is very dedicated to his companions. He is often overly protective of them in dangerous situations.
Heian is the closest thing to a leader this group has, although it is not a role he is comfortable with.

Jenna Wolheim, CG aasimar cleric of Esoni (CG goddess of magic and the atmosphere). Jenna is quite tall and slender, standing five feet nine inches and weighing just over one hundred thirty pounds. She is breathtakingly attractive, with golden eyes, pale skin and long black hair. She adventures in chain mail and a cream-colored cloak trimmed with green and blue. She wields Banisher, a holy mace especially effective against extraplanar beings.
Jenna is quiet and easy-going. She is not always the best tactician, but can be surprisingly deadly when focused.

Kalya, CG elf wizard. Kalya stands about five and a half feet tall. She has long red hair and clear blue eyes. She dresses simply, and carries only a dagger as a weapon.
Kalya is calm, focused and patient.

Kimchee, CG nali bard. Kimchee stands about average height for a nali, three and a half feet tall. His head is abnormally large. His skin is blend of deep blue/red and purple, indicative of his arcane prowess. A pair of claw scars slash across his face, his sparse eyebrows are small flickering flames that reveal his fire sub-type, and a permanent small speck of blood in the middle of his forehead reminds where he was marked by the vampire Terisa. He adventures in a mithral shirt, worn underneath a black and white spotted cloak. While adventuring, Kimchee will occasionally grab his head in pain from a sudden migraine attack. Kimchee fights with his bow and the dagger, Aesir.
Kimchee is curious, greedy and cheap. He is also continually trying to get laid, but has a pathetic track record in this department.

Leta, CG kzinti rogue. Leta was a gray-furred kzinti who adventured with the Questioning early on. She was impulsive, unpredictable and viciously effective dual wielding short swords with sneak attack. Her impulsiveness did her in when she imbibed some essence of raw Khaos. Her body slowly started to fall apart. The Questioning tried to find a way to save her, but was unable to complete the task before Leta’s sick body was stolen away by a mysterious being called Ghostwalker.

Oroluin, CG elf bard/dragon disciple. Oroluin is a good-looking elf that keeps himself just slightly unkempt and scruffy. He adventures in standard gear, which includes his favored instrument, the panpipes. He fights with a rapier and the bow, Longfang.
Oroluin is happy, curious and slightly annoying.

Pazu, NG human rogue/gatecrasher. Pazu is tanned and lean with green eyes and long white hair with a braid on one side. He has a broad mouth that smiles easily with large dimples. He wears a floppy gray leather hat, and a gray leather cloak. He sports comfortable black leather armor, and wears a black silk mask. He is partial to deep blue tunic. He carries two elegant daggers at his belt. On either hip, he has wooden scabbards that each hold another trio of daggers.
Pazu is calm, cool, mildly sarcastic and attempts to perform every action with a maximum of panache. He styles himself as an “Agent of Destiny” but even he is not sure exactly what that means.

Sixetlachtetlan Ixklattlestalten, CG sauran cleric of Serenthrargas (CG god of storms, the sky, wind and rain). Six is a tank. She wears full plate and a shield and carries an assortment of nasty weapons, including the axe, Thunderstrike. Six is very large; she stands six feet four inches, and weighs over three hundred pounds. Her scales are a range from tan to dark brown.
Six is a very intimidating personality – a massive reptile burning with religious fervor. She is outwardly a stolid warrior, maintaining an emotional distance from those around her. But she is very protective of her adopted “tribe,” and will protect them to any length. She tends to value others’ worth based on their physical might. Her faith and dedication to her god is prodigious (and scary).

Whiskers of Bonesplitter Clan, CG skaven wizard. Whiskers is a sloppy skaven, whose clothes rarely match and are perpetually in need of laundering. He travels light, and carries a dagger that he probably doesn’t know how to use.
Whiskers is very intelligent, crafty and lacking in most social graces. He is a powerful wizard and usually manages to use his spells to great effect in combat; yet he is a coward at heart, and is very reluctant to put himself in danger.

(Whiskers player moved away, to San Diego. A great loss for the party and our gaming group.)


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Return of Khaos

Not long ago, the Questioning obtained a set of potent magical gloves when they defeated Jormungarren Oathbreaker, a evil dwarf barbarian, and his band of frost giants. Upon their return to Bristol, they are informed by a pair of unfriendly monks that the Gloves are in fact Ja-Korr's Gloves of Power, and that the gloves rightfully belong to the Temple of the Black Sun, of which Ja-Korr was the Grand Master many generations ago. Heian, the ranger currently wearing the gloves, is given forty-eight hours to turn the gloves over to the Temple.

We join the story with the Questioning having traveled to a remote monastery to settle once and for all the ownership of Ja-Korr's Gloves of Power. The Temple of the Black Sun is not the player on the world stage it was a century ago, but its reputation for ill-minded pursuits lingers and the Questioning isn't here to make friends. The Questioning infiltrate and then assault the temple proper, leading to a fight against a group of monks, several kere devils, and the venerable, magic-wielding grandmaster of the monastery. The grandmaster torments the ranger Heian telepathically the whole time, trying to convince Heian that he and his friends would be much better off if Heian would just return the Gloves back to their rightful owners. Heian isn't buying it. When most of his allies have been defeated, the monk teleports away, but leaves Heian with one last telepathic message - the Gloves will be mine.


****************************
Minutes after the battle concludes, Whiskers eyes gloss over. When he comes to, he informs the party that Jarik, his new pseudo-patron at the Academy of Magic, has just asked Whiskers to meet him in Sigil to assist tracking down a lead in the search for Lord Byron, who was kidnapped by the githyanki captain Arkaus many months ago. Whiskers says farewell to his friends, and plane shifts to the Astral.

The remaining party searches the bodies and the room, but finds no exits. The party decides to stay in the large temple hall and rest. Not two hours into the first watch, Kimchee and Falko notice the rear wall of the building is on fire. As the fire spreads, the party wakes up and decides to get out of the building. Kimchee dispels Whiskers’ wall of iron that was blocking the entrance, only to reveal a wall of fire already in place on the other side. With the entrance still blocked, and not knowing what adversaries they might face, the spell-depleted party bolts back to Bristol via Six’s word of recall... much to Heian’s dismay, as he was really looking forward to searching and looting the rest of the buildings at the monastery.

Back in Bristol, some items are identified and some shopping is conducted. Six reports the presence of a monastery full of evil dudes to Tormal, one of her superiors at the Serenthrargas temple, but he seems not overly concerned.

The next night there is a grand feast at the Serenthrargas temple in Six’s honor (and her companions, to a lesser extent) to celebrate the recovery of Thunderstrike, a holy weapon of the church. Chancellor Severius informs Six that the Queen wishes to offer a token of her gratitude for Six’s service to the realm, and grants Six ownership of a small keep located an hour’s ride north of Bristol. The party is quite pleased to know they have a place to live again.

At the feast, an elf approaches Jenna and quietly informs her that the high priestess of Shara would like a secret meeting with Jenna later that night at the Kirincidal temple. When Jenna is ready to go, however, Heian is grandly drunk, and Six remains occupied as the center of attention. Jenna and Kimchee go to the Kirincidal temple and are escorted several levels down to a warded chamber. Rhianna Dale, the beautiful elven high priestess of Shara, awaits them. Jenna and Kimchee listen as Rhianna reveals her doubts about the Queen’s proclamation that Lord Krang’s mission was a success, and that the Khaos threat has been delayed in any way. She believes the Giant-King Skaal is holding Krang captive and that Sashmeel is dead and cannot be resurrected. Fiona has not contacted Rhianna, as Rhianna believes she would have had the mission succeeded. More troubling is that Rhianna has communed with her goddess, and still cannot determine the whereabouts of Fiona, nor whether she lives.

Rhianna asks the Questioning if they will determine what happened to Krang, Sashmeel and Fiona and to take up Krang’s mission to recover the Radior Stone from the Giant-King Skaal, and Jenna and Kimchee say they will try to help.

The next day the party is escorted to their keep by Phineas, a kzinti attaché from the palace. The place needs some cleaning and furnishing, but has the makings of a cozy little home for the party.

The party heads back to Bristol to finish up some errands. Along the way they discuss their next move. There is some sentiment to hunt down the forvalaka, but in the end they decide to head north, across the Crystal Sea to the Frozen Bloodlands, where they will confront the Giant-King Skaal and his tribes of giants, minotaurs, wolfen, and who knows what else.

 

[War Golem]

The party prepares for their upcoming trip to the Frozen Bloodlands.

Six spends some time arranging to hire on-site staff for her new keep. She settles on Reginald, an elderly nali butler who will supervise her staff as well as the initial furnishing of the place.

Heian and Kimchee visit the Academy of Magic where they hope to both do some research and have Heian’s Gloves of Power examined more thoroughly. Kimchee ends up purchasing an annual membership to gain access to the Academy’s open stacks, where he spends the better part of a week researching various topics: Taukemel, the Radior Stone, the Crystal Sea, Kurag, Heian’s Gloves.

Jenna is contacted telepathically by Rhianna Dale. The high priestess suggests the Questioning travel across the Crystal Sea to the Misty Lake and find the elf called Tam, who will aid their quest.

Kimchee’s research on the Crystal Sea reveals that magic is wild and unreliable around this body of water. Six still wants to wind walk across the sea, but the rest of the party feels less confident in the magic. The party considers traveling overland all the way around the sea, but discards that route as well – the way is long and very mountainous. In the end they decide to ride north to Auralon and take ship across the sea.

Oroluin and Falko are recruited to join the group on this quest. The party rides out of Bristol amidst a torrential downpour. During the ride, Heian spots a small chipmunk cross the road in front of the party. Later that night, Kimchee and Falko are on watch when they hear a very loud roar from a mile away. Soon after is a bright flash of light from much closer. The entire party is awake and donning their armor when a chipmunk runs into the light of their fire, looking scared. The party is trying to decide what to make of the little chipmunk when a huge beast appears out of the darkness in front of the chipmunk’s path. Twenty feet at the shoulder, with three-foot claws and razor fangs, the beast is like something out of a nightmare. The little chipmunk comes screeching to a halt and turns to flee back the other way, leaving the party facing the beast across the flickering campfire.

The battle is joined as the party assaults the huge beast, but it seems more focused on the little chipmunk, around whom the beast creates a wall of fire. Heian decides the chipmunk is more then it appears and races through the wall of fire to investigate. He is only mildly surprised when the tiny chipmunk transforms itself into a twenty foot tall baboon creature and begins letting out ear-splintering roars.

By now, the beast has turned its attention to the rest of the party and, despite its formidable natural weaponry, engages the party with spells such as chain lightning. Before long, the party proves too much for both of the beasts. The giant baboon flees into the nighttime darkness, and the beast, severely wounded, simply disappears.

The party continues heading north towards Auralon. Once in the Wildwood, first Heian and then several of the party members become aware of creatures pacing them in the woods on either side of the road. On the third day of travel through the Wildwood, the stalkers attack - eight leopard-like beasts that transform into brutish, wolverine-like creatures. They are tough and aggressive, but the party dispatches them and continues on, not far now from their destination.

 

[War Golem]

A day out of Auralon, the party is met on the road by a band of the King's rangers, led by the elf Temu Orenthal. Temu informs the party that his squad is in search of a particularly nasty band of trolls who may be hunting down an acquaintance of theirs, Bytnr, a rogue recently in service to the King. The party tells Temu they observed some tracks not far back down the road, which Heian had identified as those of trolls. Temu thanks the group and prepares to head off, but the party volunteers to assist in the hunt, largely because Heian is very reluctant to pass up a chance to slay some trolls.

The combined group backtracks to the troll tracks, and then follows them into the woods. It is not long before the scratchy-throated voices of trolls can be heard. Creeping closer, the party can see ten trolls gathered around a couple trees in particular where they seem to have trapped their quarry in the upper branches. As the trolls begin throwing javelins into the tree, the party and the elven rangers rush into the attack.

Jenna, Kimchee and Six start throwing spells around, while Heian and Falko charge in with weapons drawn. The rangers keep their distance, peppering the trolls with arrows from afar. The trolls quickly lose interest in their treed quarry, who is invisible anyway, so the trolls aren't even sure where he is. As the battle is joined, the party can tell that these trolls are different from any they have fought before, with red-black skin and a ferocious, raging style of fighting. They prove very tough to bring down, and the party is getting pummeled at first. The situation is looking grim, actually, until various party members retrench to buff themselves up some more before continuing the fight. All of the party members are pretty beat up by the time the trolls have taken enough losses to finally be burnt for good.

As the trolls are being roasted, Bytnr thanks Temu for coming to his rescue. Temu introduces Bytnr to the party. Temu informs the group that there has been a marked increase in dangerous monster activity throughout the Wildwood of late, and suggests to Bytnr that he may want to find another route out of the area. The party tells Bytnr they are headed to Auralon to take ship northward across the Crystal Sea and ask Bytnr if he wants to come along. Given the current danger for a lone traveler in the Wildwood, he is quick to accept the invitation.

(Falko, even with stoneskin, was down to 3 hp at the end of this battle; Bytnr was dropped to 0 hp almost immediately and managed to limp away from danger. I'm not sure what everyone else was at, but no one got through this battle unscathed. This was a tough fight, and it did seem like the party was in trouble in the middle rounds; another consequence of fighting with little sense of team tactics.)

 

[Piratecat]

You just can't go wrong with a giant baboon. Yoink.

What's a kzinti? The name rings a bell, but I'm blanking.

 

[War Golem]

The group travels on to Auralon over the next day and a half, and as the afternoon light is starting to fade, the group reaches the elven city. From the ground, there isn't much to see. Temu and Bytnr inform the group that most of the city proper is located hundreds of feet upwards, amidst the crowns of the huge trees common to this area. Bytnr, however, has already suggested to the party that they may find some land-based lodgings more to their liking, and has recommended the Brine Bucket, an inn near the docks on the north side of town. Temu and his rangers bid their farewell as the group travels through (or under, as the case may be) the city, and soon they can taste the salty tang of the sea on the wind. The Brine Bucket, as Bytnr promised, proves nicer than its name would indicate, and the party takes lodging for the night.

While the party pumps Carstus, the proprietor, for information on possible boats that will take on passengers headed north, Bytnr suggests that the group enjoy their stay in the elven city while they can by recommending a visit to a local establishment of some repute, the Tree of Six Senses. The Tree of Six Senses is an opulent combination restaurant/spa/brothel/fantasy factory, where almost any experience can be had for the right price. The party agrees that it sounds like a good idea; after all, they have been adventuring almost non-stop for months, and their trip to the Frozen Bloodlands isn't expected to be a walk in the park either. Bytnr says the Tree can be visited by prior reservation only, and leaves to make the arrangements.

The next day, the party takes care of some preparations for the trip, and Carstus informs them he has secured a few leads for possible boats they may take passage with, all of which are equipped with Navigators. The party has been told by several people now that sailing on the Crystal Sea without a Navigator is a risky endeavor, at best. As evening comes, the party spends quite a bit of time trying to figure out how and where to stash their prized magical weapons and armor, which will not be allowed in the Tree of Six Senses. It has been so long since they have engaged in a social activity (outside the safety of either Six's or Jenna's temple, anyway) where these accoutrements are unacceptable, that the party is at a bit of a loss. Six in particular is very reluctant to leave her holy battleaxe, Thunderstrike, unattended. Finally, the party settles on a combination of using invisibility and a blast glyph on the locked chest in their suite, and throwing a few chosen weapons into Kimchee's bag of holding, which stays with the bard.

At the Tree of Six Senses, the party is met by the Lady Remari, an elf of exquisite beauty whose age is quite impossible to guess. She welcomes the party and shows them into a luxurious lounge area where they relax amidst fine wines, gourmet food and soothing, ethereal music. During this time, the Lady Remari conducts a short interview in private with each of her clients, to get a sense of just what (and who) will best satiate their appetites during their stay at the Tree. In the end, Six and Jenna both opt for the standard spa treatment (which sets them back 20 gp each). Kimchee, Heian, Falko and Bytnr all spend quite a bit more of their gold to take full advantage of the services offered.

Several hours later, well past midnight, Six and Jenna are back relaxing in the lounge and showing off their respective pedicures. Meanwhile, Heian is immersed in a mud bath, exhausted and mildly buzzed. His companion for the evening, a comely young elf girl named Anaya, is busying herself around the pleasure suite. Heian is half-asleep, and nearly fully when his foggy mind registers a "thud" from the adjacent alcove. With some struggle, Heian rousts himself from the mud bath and calls out for Anaya. Only silence. Heian, dripping mud, moves over to the alcove to see the poor girl lying on the floor. Her throat has been torn out, and there is blood everywhere, on the walls and the floor. Heian is fully awake and on his guard now, certain that some invisible attacker still lurks in the room, but even his sharp senses can detect no one. A quick examination of the blood on the floor reveals to the ranger what appears to be the partial print of a large, clawed foot. Uncertain what else to do, Heian grabs a robe, but still covered in mud, and rushes out into the hallway, yelling for the guards.

Within moments security arrives, followed immediately by the Lady Remari, who is visibly upset at the fate of poor Anaya. Heian is questioned and detained until the city watch arrives. Following a quick investigation of the scene and listening to Heian's version of the situation, the watch captain places Heian under arrest, for lack of other suspects. As Heian is being led out of the establishment, Six and Jenna demand to know what has happened. Six is most insistent that justice is not being done, and immediately starts demanding to be taken to the King right away. The watch captain manages to maintain a calm demeanor in the face of the large sauran's fury, barely, and explains that he has no choice but to place Heian under arrest; a judge will determine Heian's fate in the morning.

While Falko accompanies Heian to the jail, the rest of the party conducts their own investigation of the crime scene, but is frustrated in their inability to find any worthwhile clues. They are informed that there is no magical warding in place that would bar teleportation in or out of the suite where Anaya was murdered - but that's about it. Although absolutely certain of Heian's innocence, they cannot find any solid evidence to prove it.

A trip to the jail to check in on Heian solves nothing other than to give Six something to do while she works through her indignation and absolute outrage at the whole situation. Finally, the party heads back to the Brine Bucket to get some sleep before the hearing.

In the morning, the party tries to gather some more information prior to the court session. Six tries to find out more about the elven judicial system, but is quite frustrated when her inquiries constantly lead her back to the conclusion that Heian's fate rests on the whim of the presiding judge. Does Heian get a lawyer? Will character witnesses be allowed? Will a zone of truth be used to prove Heian's innocence? What are the possible punishments if, somehow, Heian is not cleared of any wrongdoing? All up to the judge.

Heian's case is heard by Judge Limoral, who has a reputation for fairness and forthrightness. She listens to the statements of the watch captain, the Lady Remari, and finally Heian. When asked if anyone else has anything to add, Temu Orenthal offers a testament to Heian's noble character, and when she gets the chance, Six begins to recite the many good deeds Heian and the party have accomplished in the service of the Valencian crown. Judge Limoral cuts Six off in mid-sentence, once she realizes that poor Six doesn't have anything to add that is directly relevant to the matter at hand. The judge does allow the use of a zone of truth, but notes that the spell does not provide conclusive evidence, as there are many ways, magical and otherwise, to circumvent its power. Nonetheless, Heian states that he did not murder the girl and the spell indicated he is truthful.

Judge Limoral rules that although there is no direct evidence to either prove or disprove Heian's guilt, the lack of any other viable suspects weighs against Heian. The punishment is banishment, from Auralon and its lands until such time as Heian can offer definitive proof that he did not murder the girl. Heian is informed that he must be out of Auralon by sundown or be put to death. Court dismissed. The party isn't thrilled with the outcome of all of this, but since they weren't planning to stick around anyway, they aren't overly troubled. The whole experience has left Six with a very poor and bitter opinion of this kingdom, and she for one cannot wait to leave. Heian, the injured party, but an elf originally from this area, is more accepting of the situation and accepts the sentence.

Back at the Brine Bucket, the party informs Carstus of the situation, and asks if he can expedite their boarding process on any suitable vessel. A few hours later, Carstus' gives the party the bad news: guilty or not, the party has made some enemies in the city. It turns out that Anaya was the favored concubine of Lord Baranil, a politically connected elf who also happens to be an Admiral of the King's Navy. He has made it clear that no elf sea captain is to aid the murderer in any way, blowing all the potential leads Carstus' had for the party. He does suggest one possible alternative, an independent ship called the Catspaw which is captained by a kzinti. It even has a Navigator, although her reputation is less than stellar. Lacking options, the party contracts with Flint, the kzinti captain, for passage to the northern shoreline of the Crystal Sea. Flint is a worn-down, battle scarred kzinti with a serious flea problem, but otherwise seems like a decent fellow.

On the first day out of port, the party sees no sign of the Navigator as the ship hugs the shoreline of the eastern peninsula, but on the second day as the ship turns north toward open water, a very young, slight elf woman takes a place by the helmsman. A faint shimmer of blue light around her gives evidence that her talent is in use, and the passengers can see the water in the vicinity of the boat begin to change its flow slightly so that it is now pushing the boat along. A similar effect can be seen with the wind and the sails.

After a day or so, Kimchee finally overcomes his seasickness and can be a little more social with both his companions and the other passengers on the voyage: a pair of sauran warriors named Mugo and Blade, and a skaven adventurer who calls herself Deuce. The final passenger on the ship is a nali dressed all in black robes, who was seen when he boarded, but has since not left his cabin below decks.

This is the first trip on the open sea for most of the party, and by the fourth day of the trip, they are finally starting to get comfortable, maybe even enjoy the experience a bit. As the morning rolls along, most of the party is on deck, relaxing in the sun and sea spray, when the boat jerks suddenly to port, knocking most of the party and even a few of the sailors off their feat. A yell is heard from the back of the boat, and as the passengers gather themselves, they look back to see an old man dressed in yellow and black robes holding up the limp form of their Navigator.

"I still want my gloves back, elf," calls out the monk from the Temple of the Black Sun.

 

[War Golem]

You just can't go wrong with a giant baboon. Yoink.

What's a kzinti? The name rings a bell, but I'm blanking.

I think the word "kzinti" is originally from a race in an old Larry Niven SF series that I never read. I could be wrong on its origins.

I first remember seeing them as a race in an old Dragon magazine. Real old, like back around issue 50 or 60 or so. I thought they were cool and have had a feline race in my campaign since the late 80's.

Here is a link to their current, 3e version:
War Golem's Kzinti

 

[War Golem]

I've just added in PC profiles at the beginning of the first post.

My campaign uses seven primary PC races: dwarf, elf, human, kzinti, nali, sauran, and skaven. I also allow the planetouched races, on occasion.

 

[War Golem]

Needless to say, Heian is no more inclined to hand over the Gloves of Power to this guy than he was the first time they met. As the party members quickly pick themselves up from the deck of the boat, the monk begins to cast a cone of cold across the deck, only to watch it sputter and fail, an arcane victim of the Crystal Sea’s influence. Most of the party finds themselves too far away from the monk to engage in melee attacks, so arrows and bolts start to fly. Falko uses the dimension door power of his moon bracers to move next to the monk, in anticipation of some serious dwarven axe nastiness.

The attention of the party is soon distracted as an unholy blight washes over the deck, damaging Heian and Jenna, and causing several sailors to fall out of the rigging, their limp forms dropping like proverbial flies. The spell was cast by one of two flying creatures that have appeared, flanking the rear of the boat. Each is a ten foot tall, black-skinned warrior, covered in black iron armor plating that is riveted directly into their flesh and bones. One of them lands on the back deck of the boat, and begins swinging a very large scythe in the direction of Kimchee and Bytnr.

The combat proves frustrating for the travelers, as Deuce and Jenna find their spells failing more often than not, while Heian, Mugo and Blade are unable to close with any enemy and bring their powerful weapons into play. Heian is racing towards the back of the deck, suffering through a intense cone of cold on the way, only to watch the monk disappear and reappear, floating twenty feet off the side of the boat. Falko does manage to score a vicious critical hit with his axe on the monk as he leaves.

All the while, the monk has been speaking telepathically to Heian, urging the elf to hand over the gloves and thus spare his companions a painful death. Heian wavers, especially as the party looks overmatched, ineffective against the flying enemies when their own spells are proving unreliable. But in the end, Heian is unwilling to give such a powerful item to this evil bastard.

Six was below decks when the action started, and spent a few rounds getting herself on deck. She finds that with incendiary clouds and cones of cold flying around, the middle deck of the ship is not a friendly place. The rear of the ship is clear of the hostile magic, but Bytnr is making small progress on damaging the foul creature, while the unholy warrior is quickly shredding Kimchee with its scythe.

With the outcome of the battle still in doubt, the monk sends a final message to Heian, 'Very well, elf, keep the gloves for now. I leave you and your friends to your fate on the Crystal Sea without your precious Navigator.' The monk disappears, and soon after so do both of his infernal assistants. The fatalities amongst the crew are extensive, and the ship's Navigator is dead as well. The party and the other travelers are injured, but everyone lives. Six offers to try and raise the Navigator the next day after she can rest and pray to Serenthrargas for spells. Flick gathers his remaining crew members together and they manage to restore some semblance of order to the boat.

 

[War Golem]

The next day, Six casts raise dead on the Navigator, and successfully makes contact with the young elf. But when requested to return, the elf declines. She finds herself in heaven now, and there is little in her life back on the prime capable of enticing her to rejoin it. Six pleads with the elf, but to no avail. Clearly the young girl does not share Six's sense of duty with regards to the impending threat of Khaos.

Despite the inherently entropic nature of the Crystal Sea, Six manages to successfully control weather for most of the next two days, doing her best to make up for the loss of the Navigator. But her efforts fall short on the afternoon of the second day when land is sighted, and the ship is pulled inexorably towards what turns out to be a small island, rocky and barren, adorned only by a small stone building at its center. Six tries her best to pull the ship away from the small island with her magic, but the ship grounds itself on the edge of the island anyway.

The party is indecisive initially on whether to investigate the small building or not, but eventually Flick, a couple sailors, the two sauran warriors, the skaven adventurer, and all of the party end up disembarking. Inside the building is a single room, with about a dozen animal masks hanging on the walls of the room, and a large circular symbol carved into the center of the floor.

Heian ends up putting on the Dolphin mask, and finds that the mask molds itself to his face and head, almost as if it were alive. But he feels no different, and now when he looks at the circle in the floor, he sees a stairway spiraling down into the ground. Flick and his sailors decide to return to the ship, but everyone else dons a mask and follows Heian down the staircase.

The adventurers find the spiral staircase both dark and narrow as they descend into the ground, perhaps a hundred feet down before the stairs straighten out and then empty into a large, mostly rectangular cavern. The party stands at one end of a five foot wide path that continues straight onward for perhaps sixty feet, surrounded on both sides by ten feet of murky water. On each side, beyond the water is another ten foot wide strip of cavern floor before the walls reach up and wrap over to form the stalactite covered ceiling some twenty feet above the walkway.

As the adventurers enter the room, each one finds themselves "changed" somewhat, as the animal totem of the mask they've each selected bonds with them. Heian's dolphin mask causes him to grow gills, Mugo's porcupine mask causes him to sprout large, sharp spines over his body, Kimchee's owl mask grants her greater wisdom and mental capabilities. The party finds the walkway quite slippery, and the less nimble and agile members of the party have a tough time of it. Six and Mugo both slip into the water before long, and quickly find themselves in water infused with the essence of raw Chaos. Both suffer a Chaos transformation before they manage to climb back onto the narrow walkway.

By the time Heian has led the way out onto the walkway for everyone to have entered the room behind him, he can now see that the walkway ends prematurely, and that there is fifteen feet of the water between the end of the path and the ledge in front of the darkened archway that appears to be the only exit from the room. It is at this time that the adventurers are caught completely by surprise, as no less then a dozen ropelike tentacles whip out from the darkness on either side of the cavern and attempt to wrap themselves around various people on the walkway.

As the adventurers react, they find the tendrils belong to several ropers hidden on the edges of the cavern. When grasped by one of the sticky tendrils, the ropers attempt to pull their victims into the water. Overall, they have only limited success with this, but the adventurers manage to find themselves in the water several times on their own as they try to reach the archway. Six's new bat-like wings (courtesy of her eagle mask) aid her in reaching the archway, while Falko and Deuce use magic to traverse the water. But none of the others escape the effects of Chaos, least of all Kimchee, who finds himself repeatedly ensnared by the tendrils and drained of all his strength. Only Six's heroics save the bard from ending up as roper food (or worse).

A restoration spell from Jenna gets Kimchee back on his feet, and he thanks her profusely as wispy flames lick around what used to be his eyebrows - Kimchee is now a creature of fire, thanks to his Chaos bath.

The adventurers pass through the archway and find themselves in a small room with a pedestal in the center and yet another darkened archway on the far side. On the pedestal are eight amulets, each one clearly broken and missing three pieces necessary to return the amulet to its full shape. Each one of the adventurers puts on one of the amulets and continues on through the far archway.

A very large, square room awaits, with the floor laid out in a vast gridwork of colored tiles - tan, light blue, dark blue, pink and red. All of the adventurers are standing on the tile in the center of the room. Each of the eight red tiles are located at the far corners of the room, and in the middle along each wall, and on the wall next to each red tile is a small portal.
The adventurers quickly determine the "rules" of this vast puzzle-like room, but are not all able to successfully navigate their way out quite as quickly. The pink tiles bring a blast of harmful energy when stepped upon, while the dark blue tiles inflict a random Chaos effect. Most of the adventurers hit at least one of the dark blue tiles on their way to a red tile, while some of the more weak-willed members suffer the effects of Chaos many times. There are no casualties, though, and eventually everyone is on a red tile, at which time they all are able to step through their respective portals.

DM's Note: We used a Scrabble board to simulate the puzzle room. A Reflex saving throw determined how many spaces one could move each turn, while Will saving throws were necessary to resist the "pull" of the non-tan, harmful tiles when one was next to them. The characters with poor Will saves had a tough time of it (especially the sauran NPCs, Mugo and Blade), but even Jenna and Six, the two clerics with impressive Will save bonuses, each rolled a "1" on a Will save in this room.

The Chaos effects for this adventure were determined using the Jester's Insane Levels Chaos Chart. There is some pretty crazy stuff on there, and I let most of it go without mitigating what the players rolled. Needless to say, they won't be leaving this adventure without some significant alterations.

 

[Welverin]

The Chaos effects for this adventure were determined using the Jester's Insane Levels Chaos Chart. There is some pretty crazy stuff on there, and I let most of it go without mitigating what the players rolled. Needless to say, they won't be leaving this adventure without some significant alterations.[/i]

He's not kidding about that folks, it's real and it's spectacular, if you're a rat bastard that is, not so great if you're a player.

Welverin

p.s. WG, see I told you I'd read this.