Some Hydras, a Vrock, and a "lover"...Oh my!

After our encounter with the traveling Wee Jas noble Jiann transports us back to the ‘Lucky Monkey.’ We pick up mounts and plan our strategy. After conferring with Jenya we decide to travel to the City-state to investigate the mysterious relic referred to in the correspondence taken from the noble’s chest.
This City-state is said to be a gathering place for all sorts of adventurers, thieves criminals, from the entire region. Many temples, mostly of an evil alignment , are located within its walls. These include Odin, Poseidon, Toad etc., as well as Wee Jas. The best course of action is to pick up a traveling caravan and enter with them. We will have to travel north through the wilderness to a commonly traveled route.
After gathering our supplies and necessities, we begin our journey overland. On the morning of the 2nd day Oosana notices that the high brush we are traveling through has been unusually trampled. As we are starring at the matted grass, two large creatures charge from each side of the party. These are large many-heaaded monsters and they attack immediately and simultaneously. I (Elwin) fire my crossbow at one of the heads of the creature on my side and it slumps, but the others are still active. The large creature pounces on me and I am hurt badly. Jane conjures a high stone wall that blocks the Hydra-thing from us and the rest of the party. I crawl along the wall to hide at one end. Oosana has taken a great deal of damage from the other creature in the surprise attack, and is now retreating to a safe distance. He revitalizes with a healing potion. Dubious is also stunned by the attack, but continues to fight and hacks off three of the heads. His assault is vicious and two more heads drop to the blood-splattered grass. His axe is lethal and tireless and more heads continue to fall. Jiann severs the last head and the Hydra falls. The other jumps up onto the wall and then down into the midst of our party. We immediately attack from all sides and, soon, it is also dispatched. What a day! I wonder if there is anything good to eat from a Hydra. (Hmmm, probably not) We rest and heal before resuming our journey. We finally reach the route we are seeking and wait for a caravan. It isn’t a long wait, as a small group is spotted. We hail them and Oosana convinces the caravan master to let us join. This for our mutual protection on the route.
We travel without incident for three days. On the 4th morning, during our parties watch, we observe a strange occurrence. Two would-be lovers under a wagon. However, something seems to be amiss. The love-making is somehow ‘wrong’, somehow injurous to perceive. We are not sure why, and Oosana tries to detect some type of evil, but dismisses it as nothing to worry about. We are still not sure, and as we approach to investigate loud screams from the other end of the caravan stop us. Oosana and Dubious immediately rush to the fracas. Jane and I continue to observe the strange struggle under the wagon. A lady-creature finishes her deadly embrace under the wagon and emerges. She gazes at Jane and I, gives us a wink, and disappears into the night. We examine the fellow under the wagon. He is dead – but for no apparent reason. Could he have been loved to death? Jane and I scan the area where the ‘lady’ disappeared. Finding nothing, we leave the gruesomely smiling corpse in his permanent sleep and rush toward the loud noise.
At the other end of the caravan, a huge creature has descended on a wagon and is actually beginning to devour it! (A Vrock?) Most of the other party members and all able-bodied fighters have rushed to defend the assemblage from the attack. The Vrock turns to gaze at the defenders and Oosana and I are immediately stunned. Dubious and Jane attack. After a few seconds, we return to consciousness, and also attack.
Dubious is pounding the Vrock unmercifully and it stops its attack and begs to surrender. Dubious recognizes its plea and banishes it back to our home plane to serve us. After the skirmish we help the caravan back into order, and pass the remainder of the night with vigilance.
We have hardly made any progress toward the City-state, and already the trip is fraught with exploit! Hmmm…I wonder what is for breakfast?

Elwin

XP = 600 kills, 100 story

A Favor for Jenya

We are asked to investigate a Wee Jas contingent that is leaving Cauldron. We decide to have Jiann transport us to the Lucky Monkey ahead of this group, then observe them as they pass. We all join hands – Jiann does the incantation – POW – we’re sitting on the roof of the “Monkey.” Oosana and I (Elwin) quickly grab onto the slippery tile and carefully climb down. A few of our party aren’t so agile, slide to the edge and tumble over to the ground below. OUCH! Oosana and I decide to travel up the road to Cauldron to do a veiled observation of the approaching Wee Jas caravan. We discover they are indeed moving this way and I send my raven Streak back to the inn to inform the others. The contingent is made up of a Large richly adorned wagon with several guard-types traveling in front and behind. The wagon appears to fine for material and goods and must be carrying Wee Jas nobility.
The caravan reaches the Lucky Monkey, makes arrangement to trade out their horses, and refresh themselves before traveling on. They have no intention of stopping here for any prolonged rest. We arrange ourselves inconspicuously around the livery area to observe. Aerrion has approached the wagon and is conversing with the guardsman. Judging from the scowl on the face of the guard, it doesn’t seem to be going so well. I hope our ‘lovable’ swashbuckler doesn’t antagonize him too much!
The Wee Jas group prepares to resume their trek. We decide to continue our pursuit and observe them more closely when they decide to rest for the night. We follow at a safe distance for the remainder of the day, and finally arrive at the inn at dusk. We watch the group debark, and make their arrangements for rooms and dinner. It seems the carriage was transporting two dignitaries. (Hmmm, maybe one is an envoy and one a special guard?) Jiann and Skye secure our rooms and I go down to the common room to see if there are any Halflings that work here. I find a group in the kitchen area and gather as much information about the inn’s layout and operation as I can do without appearing to bothersome. Of course this is all accomplished over a nice dish of mutton and mushroom stew. (A polite gesture to my Halfling ‘brothers and sisters’). As I hurry away I snatch an apron, stuff it into my belt, and grab a serving tray. From the galley I go back to our room, remove my pack and crossbow, put on the apron, and move toward the Wee Jass room. Aerrion waits outside by the entrance to the inn and Oosana moves to the common bathhouse. The two emissaries have entered the bath house to freshen before their dinner and rest. Oosana spots a Wee Jas holy symbol on one and a glint of armor on the other. (The special guard no doubt)
I have reached the unguarded door to the Wee Jas room. I pick the lock enter the room and immediately observe two chests. They are locked, but not hard to pick. One has a poison dart mechanism, and I disable it and open the chest. Clothing, and some scrolls. They appear to have magical runes on them. I remove them and replace the tubes with blank parchment. Too much time examining the scrolls. I must leave. As I close the door and move down the hallway, the Wee Jas party returns. Whew, that was close.
We all gather in our room to share our information. We decide to invade the room tonight while they are sleeping. Oosana will seduce the guard on duty outside the doorway making the way clear for the rest.

Oosana successfully seduces the guard. Dubious sneaks up and knocks him out. We enter and quickly dispatch two of the guards. The others awake and we begin to grapple with them. They are finally silenced, but the Viscount hears the clamor. Oosana tries to make a sound to dupe the two, but the man opens his door and charges out. When he sees up he immediately jumps back into the room. We hear some chanting, and armor being clad. Oosana casts a spell and a thick obscuring fog enshrouds the hallway. The Viscount again opens the door and Dubious hacks at it. A fireball erupts. Oosana ducks but Dubious and Elwin are blasted. The mist is eradicated and everything is now clear. Oosana attacks and carries the battle into the Counts room. The guard witch is injured and she jumps out the window and flees. As the count is battered he steps back, pulls a vial from his belt and consumes it. As Oosana approaches for another attack, the Count begins to shake violently, then slumps to the floor lifelessly. We check the window, but the witch has escaped. We need to hurry and scuttle the room before too much is made of the noisy skirmish from the other patrons. We gather the valuables and about 200 gold pieces from the room. The gold is dropped into the hand of the innkeeper with our sincere apologies about the mess. Patrons are reassured (as best we can) that nothing is amiss and they can go back to sleep.
Our loot included…
+1 rapier; set of spell books (5th Lvl mage); scrolls to superior about “our involvement in their ‘project’;
Senior talon letter from Cauldron (friendly letter type) with mention of “Relic” they are holding their
City-state; Elwin’s burgled scrolls – Cure disease, Remove curse, Magic missile, Neutralize poison;
I send my Raven, Streak, back to Cauldron to report to Jenya.

XP = 400 battle, 200 story

Information Gathering

Jiann, Jane, Oosana and I, (Elwin) are resting on our new home plane in the Large Skull’s Alter area. Skye, Dubious and Aereon have escaped the attack back in the catacombs and are now retreating into the farther reaches of the under dark. They somehow find their way through the sewers and back to Cauldron’s lower levels. They emerge in the vicinity of Gretchen’s orphanage on the lowest tier.
After discussing the unusual sensation of turning into greasy black smoke and awakening in this unoerthful plane, Jiann, Oosana, and I decide to return. We will let Jiann utter the incantations to transport us back. Jane will remain at the skull in case we again meet an unfortunate demise and are transposed back into this skull’s chamber. After Jiann speaks the magic, we find ourselves back in the Temple of Cuthbert. We meet with the temple guards and Jenya. We explain our plight with the Wee Jas hierarchy. She tells us our other party members are at the orphanage, and soon they join us. We discuss the possible motives of the head Priest, Iverson, who has been left in charge of Wee Jas temple complex. We feel he is probably responsible for our attack in the catacombs below the city. Jenya tries to divine some information about the motives from our recent exploits. After, murmuring, and gesturing, she speaks…. “Death the door, Knives the dust, Souls the prize,” (Something else, but I didn’t catch it)
That is all she is able to gather from her skrye.
We decide to rest here and gather as much information as possible. We decide to have some equipment and armor enhanced while we are waiting. It may come in handy during a future encounter. During this period of rest, a couple of Cuthbertian spies accompany Oosana and me into the shadows to observe any Wee Jas movement. For 4 weeks we watch, but there is still no sign of Emberil. All our new equipment has now been crafted, and we decide on another course of action. We will stalk the Wee Jas priests as they come and go and kidnap them. We hope this will stir the “Wee Jasian kettle” enough to cause Iverson to openly act.
1st we stalk the single priests, and capture 1, 2, and then 3. They become very cautious, and begin to travel in pairs. Jenya is providing us with some Paladins to keep watch on them while we continue our escapades. After kidnapping 2 of the wary pairs of priests, the Wee Jas assassins track down one of our Cuthbertian operatives and kill him. Our spies have tracked a number of the Wee Jas to a magic shoppe called “ Xanathor’s Provisions.” Before we explore this shoppe, we decide to secretly search one of the kidnapped priest’s homes. The party will use the sewers to approach the home, and Oosana and I will sneak into the building. Aereon will stand watch across the street at a pubic house terrace. Oosana and I move through the shadowy courtyard to the door of the priest’s home. The lock is picked, and the slip into the foyer. Aereon is watching intently from across the street while Dubious is waiting at the sewer grate in case any thing goes wrong. I will search the downstairs area, especially the bookshelves and Oosana moves to the second floor. I find some interesting notes in one of the journals and begin to copy the information into my journal. I am startled by the sound of the City guard’s loud whistle. As I begin to move to the window to look, the door bursts open and a large ogre accompanied by a pair of guards rush in. I see that both entrances are blocked so I try to tumble by the ogre. He smashes me against the wall and all my breath escapes. I can’t yell a warning to Oosana even though I expect he has heard the commotion. Oosana heard, opened the window, and quickly climbed down to the alleyway. He retreats to the sewer hiding place. He is passed by Dubious, who, upon hearing the disturbance, has begun to move to discover what has come about.
Aereon is standing to observe our fate, when he is confronted by a wizard of some type moving into the open terrace of the pub. As Aereon draws his weapon the sorcerer casts a spell that freezes the air all around. Several of the patrons drop dead instantly in their seats. Aereon dives to escape the cone of cold, but is injured by the deadly freezing wind. As Dubious rushes by, Oosana casts a spell that blurs the entire area with a thick obscuring fog. Jiann now rushes up from the sewer hiding place, and around the corner in time to see the wizard’s attacking spells. He follows Dubious to attack the cloaked foe. As Dubious rushes to Aereon’s aid the wizard casts a new spell that leaves a bewildered look on Dubious’ face. Dubious now is beginning to menacingly chase Aereon. As Dubious yells out halt commands, Aereon is retreating to the doorway of the pub.
I am gasping to retrieve my wind, and I know I must get by the Ogre. I again see a tiny opening and tumble between the Ogre’s legs, through the shattered backdoor, and into the alley. I slump into an alcove, retrieve a healing potion from my belt and quickly down it. The Ogre and guardsmen rush from the building and I sprint down the alleyway.
Jiann spots the wizard through the mist and a searing ray bursts from his fingers toward the conjurer. Aereon has jumped through the open door of the tavern and Dubious chases after him directing him to ‘surrender immediately.’ Aereon is still hurting from the frosty spell, and retreats up the stairwell. As he reaches the top, and sees the commotion below, he hurls a couple of vials of burning oil onto the roof of the absent priest’s home. Jiann chases after the wizard who is now running and both turn into a side alley.
I am running wildly to flee the ogre and guards who are gaining ground quickly. I duck into a side alley. A coweled man runs by me. I think that he will surely disrupt the their charge, so I shuffle by him and on toward the main street. I see Jiann running around the corner toward me. As he nears, I turn to see the guards with their weapons drawn shouting loudly and rushing toward us. I load a bolt into my crossbow and fire at the lead guard. Jiann looks at me in panic and steps directly into my line of fire. He takes the bolt full in his side. OUCH! It is clear that, for some reason, he will not let me attack these guards. Hmmm. I decide to make a hasty retreat back to the sewer. Oosana also moves through a crowd and back to the sewer as well. We are soon joined by the rest of our party. We escape through the smelly drain back to the Temple. We will have much to discuss tonight….Ouch, my ribs really hurt….Hmmm, I wonder what time the evening meal will be prepared.

Elwin

Curse of the Smoking Eye

Carifon says the winged critter is "Sorie" and might know of the test of the smoking eye. Jian thinks Sunie is a not quite right Astral Diva. Jean cures it and then pulls the spears out. It wakes up and says Jean's kindness will be remembered. We question it. He served Adamarcus and is only here to see who will pass the test of the smoking eye. Says a giant and another creature just went into the mountain, trying to pass the test. I ask about the other creature. Sorie describes a Raksasha before leaving. I test the pool with one of the spears and nothing happens. Sky dives in, swims down, waves and enters the tunnel. A bit later a bottle bobs up with a rope. We all follow and rinse off. A descending twisty tunnel. Hear clanking ahead of us. Follow. Spot a large giant and the raksasha. They are discussing something. I sneak up to listen. They move on. I hear pounding from a room ahead. It stops as the giant enters. They charge in and a battle starts. I move up. An automaton is fighting the giant. The clay critter falls and shatters. The room is littered with more fragments then one critter should make. They heal up. The raksasha mentions moving on while the spells are in effect. They move out. We follow again. Another battle. A chamber with a black flamed fire. Many passages exit the chamber. In the fire is a skeletal creature. The fire giant appears dead and the raksasha is fighting another critter. The skeletal thing is casting spells. The other critter is is a devil, arms covered in chains. The skeleton casts another spell, a 20' effect goes off and both the raksasha and devil go down. Jian and Jean move up and attack as the skeleton starts looking at the rasasha's remains. We move in. A dire bear appears and attacks Aerrion. Drop the bear. Jean risks life and limb to cast a raise dead on the skeletal lich. It works and it comes to life in the black fire and almost immediately dies and crumples into dust. The black fire is a negative energy nexus. Search the bodies.

Loot: Lantern, 10days food, scroll tubes with 4 scrolls of plain shift.

Continue up stairs. Opens into what is the eye socket of the mountain. Red plasma stuff vents from a rift in the plain. A golden armored mummy is standing in the middle. It wants a sacrifice to complete the test. Jian charges and Carifon yells "No!" She is vaporized then reconstituted. Carifon is weeping. Jian looks changed. She has a flame in one eye. I feel changed as well. We all have fire in one of our eyes. Aerrion and Dubious attack and kill Carifon, who turns to smoke. Our eyes emit a bitter black smoke, smells worse then Aerrion after a 3 day bar bender. While Jian is happy, I and probably Elwin think this is more of a curse then a help. How are we supposed to be sneaky and do our jobs when we glow in the dark and leave a stink trail? Damn Cuthbertians! Their paladin conned us into this. How is this supposed to help anyone in Cauldron? And just when I was believing the stuff the others were saying about how good the Cuthberts were.

Oosana

Eye effects: This is our home plain. +1 insight to hit, caster level +1, +1 ST insight bonus, -10 scent effect

Loot: Cloak of Chrisma, Wand of magic missile lvl 9, Wand of Web level 9, Bag of holding #2, Scroll of disintigrate, Scroll of mass suggestion, Lessor amulet of the planes.

XP - Story 4000

Second Test

Decide which of three paths to take. Elf tracks, lantern path, apes. Decide on lantern. Path leads to open plains. It points to an open area between a series of forests. Now in rolling hills. Top a valley ridge. Spot a critter about ape sized. Moves on two legs then four. Stops then disappears. Half way across the valley, spot same type of critter sprinting towards us. Disappears again, now running along the ridge top and much closer. It looks to be grinning. Disappears again, then appears in our group after running over Sky, Jean and Aerrion. He reeks of stench. Its presence causes damage and discomfort to several of us. It is resistant to damage. Jian's spell bounces. Acid works. I shoot it in the back several times. Sky charges and finishes it off. Loot the body. Two satchels. One has 25 Au ingots. Other has 2 small jewel encrusted golden idols of Orcus, about 450 each. Two vials. A quartz shard - a neutralize poison wand with 12 charges. Travel on. Four more days of travel. Open plain. Broken weapons litter the ground. Carifon says that Celestials fought with demons here. Many large cocoons type ovoids are scattered about. Carifon thinks they are the fallen Celestials. A large archway that the lantern path points through. The lantern Jayne is carrying reacts when she walks through the arch. She hands the lantern to Jian and starts cutting on one of the cocoons. She just gets one opened when we are transported back to the arch. Jean and Dubious whack at a cocoon for several minutes. It contains a dead winged Celestial. Move on. Follow the path as it twists across the plain. A lizard thing moves from behind a large cocoon. It has a gaze weapon. I cast Obscuring Mist to block the gaze. Kill it with minimal damage. A bit later, find a cocoon with a metallic object inside. Spend time cutting it out. Get sent back to the arch three times. Find a Holy Bastard sword, Bracers of Lessor Alchemy, and a Cloak of Resistance +3. Resume moving. A large spider thing steps out and beams Dubious with a fiery ray. Aerrion moves forward and yells back about a stone pile that might be a lair. Move on quickly. Almost to end of the maze. Elwin and I blink out after a lurch in our gut. Hear a voice that says "The test of resolve is complete." We all appear in an open place. A mummy is here. "Heed the words of Adamarcus....Test of Sacrifice....Ascension to throne of Adamarcus is nigh..." Travel on through a forest type area for three more days toward a large mountainous skull. Ground has scattered ulcerous sores. Sky is getting fierier. Sores are oozing blood. Blood burning into blood. About a half mile from skull, I spot a large black winged shape rising from behind the skull mountain. Swoops toward the party. Black Dragon. Looks us over for a bit. Then lines up for a pass over Jean. Missile fire. I resist its fear aura. Start moving toward the skull. Running battle. Make it to the skull but Jian and Jean use many spells. Lantern shines on a round pool. Shadow at the bottom of the pool. Might be a tunnel, or a light trick. A winged critter is pinned to the ground. It struggles a bit then stops. Carifon claims to know it.

Oosana

XP - Kills and Story 3250

Combined Loot:
25 Au ingots
2 jeweled golden figurines of Orcus - 450 Au each
2 vials
One quartz wand of Neutralize Poison - 12 charges
Holy Bastard sword
Bracers of Lessor Alchemy
Cloak of Resistance +3

Toward the 2nd Test

Travel away from the raksasha mine area until we exit the tunnels back to the surface. Cliff to one side, scattered moss covered trees. At least it is sorta like moss and they resemble trees. Jian wants to rest. As good as anyplace to rest. Stay in the entrance. During the 2nd watch, Aerrion and Jian see movement in the trees. Jian wakes Dubious and I. Spot a critter by a tree. A large ape grunting in Abyssal. "Food on the table." Another charges from ahead. More Abyssal grunts from far away. A spell tries to affect me but I shrug it off. A much larger ape moves forward as does a lizard type spellcaster. I can't hit anything and get staggered by the large ape. Feign death and wait for him to move away. As the large ape tries to smack Jian, Sky leaps in the path and takes the killing blow. This plan must have gotten to him. He poofs into smoke. We manage to kill them and the bodies stay. Recover a few things.

Finish resting, healing and recovering spells. Travel. Flat plains with a few mossy trees. I spot something in a tree, maybe drinking something. Looks Drowish. I ask it in Undercommon to state intentions. Jian blasts a tree behind us. Dubious says something to one and they attack. So much for a peaceful resolution. Darkness goes off and two 4 armed things attack Jian and Jean. Jean cast a daylight which dispells the darkness. The drow is a fast archer. Convoluted fight. One of the Draegloths grabs Jean and starts beating on Dubious with her. The other drops Jian and tosses her into a tree for later. Aerrion is down and I zap him with the CSW wand. That one attacks me. I move off and make a well placed shot, dropping it. When the fight is over, we notice Elwin is gone as well. Gather up more loot.

Oosana

XP Kills 2200

(Sky and Elwin half points)

Loot:

Apes:
Long sword
Long spear +1
Breastplate +1
Light shield +1
Ring
Bracers of armor
Potion

Drow and Co:
Chain shirt +1 (Aerrion)
Chain shirt +2 (Dubious)
Masterwork Comp long bow Str +2 (Aerrion)
2 Scimitars +1
+1 Masterwork Comp long bow Str +8

An Unexpected Encounter

March 16, 2007

We are resting under the Cathedral alter after the spider battle. We are startled by a rumbling. Elwin checks and finds the passageway has collapsed and our return to the surface is now blocked. Upon further searching we discover a hole in the corridor wall. We investigate and find an open tunnel with tracks on the floor. (Maybe an old mining tunnel) We climb through to search for another way out. Elwin and Oosana scout cautiously ahead. About a half mile ahead on the track, they stop at the sound of an approaching echoing from the darkness. They both jump off the tracks and hide against the wall. A mining cart rolls toward them, and comes to stop just a few feet away. Oosana and Elwin both sense the danger and dive to the rock floor just as the cart explodes. They narrowly escape any damage but are deafened and partially blinded by the blast, After a few minutes to clear their senses; they search the area and discover a pressure plate that must have triggered the explosion. As they continue to scout farther ahead they find more of the pressure plates. They are marked, and the party is redirected. Elwin scouts ahead to a fork in the shaft. While Elwin searches for any tracks, the main party moves down the tunnel. Dubious discovers an abnormality in the rock wall. As he begins to investigate, a huge creature bursts through. It attacks all nearby party members. In addition to its bites and clawing it is spraying an armor & weapon-dissolving acid. Aereon attacks and then flees down the corridor toward Elwin. The party battles the gigantic creature but armor and weapons are dissolving with each attack. Dubious is shedding his dissolving armor and Oosana races away, dodging the melting spray. Jian releases a huge fireball and the monster slumps. Skye leaps forward and breathes his fiery breath over the toasted carcass just to be sure. Elwin comes back to the party and releases Streak, his magical raven, to fly over the fallen creature to check the tunnel behind it. It only reveals three nearby lairs full of old dissolved metal weaponry and bones. Jian cuts open the creature to examine the acid glands. Skye helps to complete the grisly task. He and Jian collect acid and skin from the monster. Perhaps they will fashion an acid-resisting armor later.
As we turn to move on down to the tunnel’s fork, a lightning bolt flies from an adjacent corridor. Skye spots the source and immediately turns and sprints down the hall. He is followed by Jian and Dubious. They surround a small gnome. They attempt to dispatch him, but to their surprise, as he doesn’t seem to be affected by many of the attacks. Oosana joins the battle with the amazingly tough little creature. The gnome fights back and then retreats to another small cavern. As the party races in pursuit, they see the room is now filled with gnomes. Jian fires a ball of fire into the room and all the ‘illusions’ disappear. The original gnome remains. He now ‘shifts’ into a spider form. It crawls up the wall and begins skittering out along the top of the corridor. The party continues to attack on the run. They follow and eventually Jian roasts it with another fiery spell. As it falls from the ceiling, it changes into its original half tiger - half man form. A fabled Rakshasa!! No wonder he was so much trouble. We search the small rooms in this area and find…
1200 cp, 480 sp, 500 gp, 130 pp
4 teardrop blood stones @ 50 gp
2 gold cloth tapestries @ 1050 gp
1 ebony jewel box @ 2100 gp
1 set of silverware @ 55 gp
30 Dinner plates @ 30 gp
12 sets of stemware?? @ 35 gp
4 platters @ 60 gp
2 scrolls of Dispel Magic – Lvl 7
+2 Ring of protection
XP = 1750 Kills, 100 story

Elwin