The party went out to face off with the crocodile. Sarlac, wanting to see if they could find out where the crocodile was, sent his pseudodragon to take a look.
Viewing from overhead, however, in the middle of the area where the party was told the Crocodile was, Sarlac saw through the pseudodragon's eyes not a crocodile, but something looking very much like a dragon. The party realized that they may have to change tactics, and approached the water carefully.
As they got to the edge of the water, however, a giant crocodile lept out at them, barely missing Tallus. The party was quick to respond, however and began dealing deadly blows to the creature. Trina was quick to act as well, casting Entanlge on the creature and holding it fast.
Trina attempted to communicate with the crocodile, but discovered that the crocodile was apparently vengeful... with only thoughts of killing on its mind. Realizing this was not a normal behaviour for a crocodile, the party briefly paused its attacks.
While they were contemplating this issue, a 50' white dragon-like creature burst through the trees to attack them.
The party's retaliation was swift, and they were able to defeat the dragon creature before the Entangle spell had even ended. Once they had dispatched it, Trina again tried to communicate with the crocodile, who now only appeared to want to go home, no longer filled with thoughts of killing.
Realizing that the dragon likely had a treasure horde, the party went searching for it, finding many gold, platinum and copper pieces, as well a magic scimitar, a magic wand, and a magic brooch.
The party returned to the lizard man lair, and reported their findings, Tallus brought the head of the dragon with them to show the lizard man leader, who was duly impressed with the party's ability to handle the situation. The lizard men sent a two delegates with the party to return with them to saltmarsh, to arrange a treaty.
While Trina and Etna trained, the party then identified the items it had found. The helm allowed its possesor to breath underwater, the Ioun stones gave different abilities... the first improved the possessor's overall skill (raised their level by 1), the second improved the possessor's dexterity, and the third allowed the possessor to survive without air, and the third improved the possesor's dexterity. The magic wand was a wand of light, and the brooch helped shield its possessor against poison. Tallus took the helm, Seamus took the Ioun stone that increased his level, Sarlac the wand, Tristan took the Ioun stone that allowed him to survive without air, and when Trina and Etna had returned from training, Trina took the magic scimitar, and Etna took both the Ioun stone that improved her dexterity and the brooch that provided some protection against poison.
The delegation had relayed the situation to the Saltmarsh town council, and the town council is concerned. It will take roughly 3 weeks for the lizard men's forces to be ready to make a full scale assault on the Sahuagin, but the town council is concerned that an attack could commence at any moment, and wished to strike immediately. A compromise was ultimately reached where Saltmarsh would send an armed party to the lair to perform some necessary reconnaissance, to discover the status of the Sahuagin's plans to attack, to determine what the strength of their forces are, and any additional information they might be able to find out about the Sahuagin warriors' ranks and forces. The lizardmen supplied the party with maps of the area as well as a map of the lair that they had from when the lizardmen used the place.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
A new job!
After selling the contraband on the ship, the party then relates their findings to the town council. The minister who hears this grows concerned at the notion that there may be a lizardman settlement this close to Saltmarsh, and to make matters worse, they appear to be preparing for war. The party assures the minister that they will be back in one month, after they have completed their training, to help in whatever way they can.
After the party spent virtually all of their liquid assets on training, they were fairly hard up for cash, but they are promised a reward of 6000 gp if they can find out what the lizardmen intend on doing. The party agrees to do this and sails to the area where the Dunwater river leads into the Azure Sea. Nearing the delta of the river, they notice a clear footpath that appears to lead to caves in a large mound or dune to the southeast.
The party started by exploring a large mouthed cave on the west side of the mound. The cave was very muddy, members of the party sinking up to their knees or even upper thighs. Three large lizards started to approach them, and a battle ensued for several minutes before the lizards were dispatched.
Etna stubbed her foot on something that was buried deep within the mud, and pulling it out they discovered it to be a chest. The chest contained gold, several rubies, 3 magic stones, thought to be Ioun stones, and a magic helm with "Styx" written on the back of the helm near the neck.
They also discovered a sword buried in the mud, which gave Sarlac an electric shock when he touched it. Tristan, however, was able to grasp it with no difficulty, after which Tristan appeared to be talking to himself.
They deduced that the sword was talking telepathically to Tristan, who held out his Broadsword, stating he could no longer use it. Tallus gave up his magic long sword to Sarlac, and took the broadsword to use.
3 lizard men showed up and gestured to the party that they were to stand down and go with them. The party agreed and was taken to see their leader.
Their leader, who could speak common, was not terribly impressed with the fact that humans were invading their newfound lair, mentioning that they had only recently been forced to relocate already, being forced out by Sahuagin. An elderly lizardman came into the room and said some words to the leader, who then turned to the party and said "It seems my minister here believes that you may be of some use to us. I, on the other hand, am not so optimistic on the matter. If you can take care of a large crocodile to the southwest of our lair that has been attacking our troops, I would be quite willing heed my ministers council on this matter and consider an alliance in reclaiming our old home and destroying the Sahuagin menace in this region. Our kind's ability to control even a beast as large as this crocodile does not seem to be having any effect, and has cost us 7 patrols already. I am not willing to lose any more of my men. If you can take care of this threat, we will send some of our band to accompany you back to your homeland to form an official alliance." The party agreed to these terms and set out to take care of the crocodile.
After the party spent virtually all of their liquid assets on training, they were fairly hard up for cash, but they are promised a reward of 6000 gp if they can find out what the lizardmen intend on doing. The party agrees to do this and sails to the area where the Dunwater river leads into the Azure Sea. Nearing the delta of the river, they notice a clear footpath that appears to lead to caves in a large mound or dune to the southeast.
The party started by exploring a large mouthed cave on the west side of the mound. The cave was very muddy, members of the party sinking up to their knees or even upper thighs. Three large lizards started to approach them, and a battle ensued for several minutes before the lizards were dispatched.
Etna stubbed her foot on something that was buried deep within the mud, and pulling it out they discovered it to be a chest. The chest contained gold, several rubies, 3 magic stones, thought to be Ioun stones, and a magic helm with "Styx" written on the back of the helm near the neck.
They also discovered a sword buried in the mud, which gave Sarlac an electric shock when he touched it. Tristan, however, was able to grasp it with no difficulty, after which Tristan appeared to be talking to himself.
They deduced that the sword was talking telepathically to Tristan, who held out his Broadsword, stating he could no longer use it. Tallus gave up his magic long sword to Sarlac, and took the broadsword to use.
3 lizard men showed up and gestured to the party that they were to stand down and go with them. The party agreed and was taken to see their leader.
Their leader, who could speak common, was not terribly impressed with the fact that humans were invading their newfound lair, mentioning that they had only recently been forced to relocate already, being forced out by Sahuagin. An elderly lizardman came into the room and said some words to the leader, who then turned to the party and said "It seems my minister here believes that you may be of some use to us. I, on the other hand, am not so optimistic on the matter. If you can take care of a large crocodile to the southwest of our lair that has been attacking our troops, I would be quite willing heed my ministers council on this matter and consider an alliance in reclaiming our old home and destroying the Sahuagin menace in this region. Our kind's ability to control even a beast as large as this crocodile does not seem to be having any effect, and has cost us 7 patrols already. I am not willing to lose any more of my men. If you can take care of this threat, we will send some of our band to accompany you back to your homeland to form an official alliance." The party agreed to these terms and set out to take care of the crocodile.
Monday, November 22, 2010
The ship is ours!
The party began to explore the ship, finding numerous chests and boxes. The first such box that Etna opened, however, she set off a poison gas trap, which knocked out Tristan. Tristan appeared to only be sleeping, however, so the party continued to explore on their own.
While they were searching the ship, they discovered an aquatic elf who was being held prisoner in a closet at the stern of the ship. The elf's name was Oceanus, and once he learned that the party had dispatched the pirates, he seemed very eager to join them.
While they were searching the ship, they discovered an aquatic elf who was being held prisoner in a closet at the stern of the ship. The elf's name was Oceanus, and once he learned that the party had dispatched the pirates, he seemed very eager to join them.
The ship's hold contained a vast quantity of smuggled wares... over 300 casks of various goods, as well as 7 or 8 dozen bolts of silk, which would doubtless fetch a handome price in Seaton. They also found a substantial cache of weapons, as well as a letter apparently from the lizardmen, discussing the acquisitiion of "ironwares". They also had found a great deal of silver, gold, and electrum amongst the treasures they discovered on the bodies and in the chests.
The party also found a third lizard man who evidently had a pseudodragon for a pet. The pseudodragon stung Tullus, who fell into a coma, but the party was able to dispatch the lizard man quite quickly. At Sarlac's insistence, the party then began to try to capture the pseudodragon, who was proving to be difficult to find, and began using its chameleon ability to stay hidden from the party. Meanwhile, Tullus and Tristan were revived. Their efforts to locate the pseudodragon were unsuccessful, however.
After collecting all they had found amongst the bodies and in the chests into a pile to detect magic on it, the party ascertained that they had secured two magical swords, a magic ring, and a slenderly carved ivory magic wand.
The magic user's spellbook contained Find Familiar, which Sarlac was very eager to use the spell, hoping to lure the pseudodragon in. To Sarlac's delight, the gambit was a success, and the pseudodragon lit on Sarlac's shoulder.
After quickly going back to shore and fetching Tom and Will, who were both experienced sailors, the party were able to navigate the ship into the harbor at Saltmarsh.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Taking the ship
Boarding the ship, Sarlac and Etna saw that there were several people on the deck, all of whom were apparently looking coastward, probably waiting for the boat to arrive. The party's plan to sneak behind them and try to surprise them seemed to be working. Etna threw a dagger at one person near where she climbed up, and missed terribly, creating a splash that all of the people looked towards the coast immediately noticed, and looked at... apparently thinking it might be the approaching boat. Trying again, she nailed the pirate in the back of his head and he immediately fell down in a slump. Everyone else was quietly getting on board at this point. Sarlac, meanwhile, was moving towards the back of the ship where he saw several people and cast a Sleep spell at them, which took down everybody but one very impressive looking person down. This, however, alerted the man who was standing there and he turned towards the party, shouting "INTRUDERS!" and a full scale combat began.
The battle was intense, and pretty heavy damages were done by both sides early on, including some unexpected attacks from above that the party presumed was from the crows nest. Etna climbed the ropes, being hit a couple of times by arrows coming at her from the crows nest before reaching the top. Although the party had started to whittle at the crew's defenses and was taking them down, it took only minutes for several reinforcements to arrive from below deck, including 2 lizardmen. Etna, up on the crow's nest, decided to push the man off, and successfully grappled the man so as to accomplish it. Through sheer serendipity, the man landed on another of the crewmen who was attacking the party on the deck, killing two of the crew right away. Had it not been for this single circumstance, the party would have likely fared far worse.
The party held their ground for several minutes before they started to be overwhelmed however, and started taking some serious hits themselves. The battle continued for many more rounds after that, with Etna trying to hurl her many daggers from above and hit any targets who were not too close to her comrads. The characters who had fallen asleep at the back of the boat had become conscious and quickly moved to join the fray. One of them, apparently a magic user, cast a magic missile at Seamus, who appeared to be the most heaily armored of the group. Trina decided to levitate carefully and use her ability to sneak around the perimeter of the boat and try to attack the magic user from behind. Etna decided to use her last dagger to try to prevent the magic user from casting another spell and was successful. Unfortunately, the fighters were taking too much damage from enemies to remain standing and they both fell, but not before taking out several of the crew. Seamus the cleric, being under attack himself, was unable to tend to his fallen comrads right away.
Trina managed to face off against the magic user, while the remaining members of the party fought for their lives against the remainder of the crew. The battle was very intense, most of the remaining characters being wounded within an inch of their lives. When Seamus was free, he checked on Tristan, who was still alive, and healed him to consciousness. Seamus went to check on Tullus as well, who was also merely unconscious. Finally, after a long and arduous battle, the last crewmember of the ship, who had taken inordinate amount of pummelling from the party, fell, as Tullus was healed back to consciousness as well.
The party then began to explore the vessel.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Down time, and the adventure continues
The next day, Sarlac discovered that the magic user's guild in a neighboring city would pay a good price for the magic user books they've discovered, the money for which they would need to use to train anyways. Before they leave, the town council advises them that they suspect that there must be a seagoing vessel that is part of this smuggling operation as well, and would like to count on their assistance if they should be able to spot it. They suspect that the smugglers are operating on nights of the new moon, the last one being barely a week ago and the next one not for three more weeks. This gives them plenty of time to train, they figure, so the following day they spend most of their day on the road walking to Seaton, the neighboring city.
Seaton was a metropolis, with a population of roughly 25,000 people. It was a walled city, and virtually every amenity imaginable could be found there, including mages guilds, fighters guilds, a thieve's guild, and several temples.
Sarlac was able to negotiate a fair price for the magic books, and the party went their various ways to train. Tullus used the opportunity to buy himself some nice equipment, as well as a squire and some horses. After training, the party decided to use some excess cash to buy things for themselves. They quickly discovered, however, that most of the money that they gave to Tullus would quickly get given to the church. Although they had no particular grievance against the church that would make them want to not be charitable, they realized that the only way Tullus was likely to have enough money to train when he needed is if the party took over most of his finances, and doled out the cash on an as-needed basis.
After everybody had trained, which took 2 weeks, everybody headed back to Saltmarsh. The trip by horse took only a couple of hours, instead of most of the day as walking to Seaton had. The town council at Saltmarsh advised the party that they had not seen anything yet, but encouraged the party to camp out near the house with the two guards they had posted to see if they could see anything. The first night was unevenful, although the moon was barely a sliver.
The next night, however, there was no moon at all... and while they were out watching in the middle of the night, they saw some flashing coming from the water. The light was coming what they could now see was a ship out at sea, only just barely visible because of some lighting that is being used aboard it. They would probably not have even seen the vessel if it had not been for the bright flashing light that they had just seen. Tristan recognized the pattern, however, and realized it matched the code on the parchment they had found in the house, and using their own lantern, they endeavored to respond as they understood the code to work. Another pattern of flashing lights followed which completed their pattern, and then they waited.
About 30 minutes later, they saw a small boat being rowed up to the cave by one man. The party hid, and the man brought his boat up to the shore, anchored it and called out for Sanbalet. The party quickly jumped out with bows pointed his head telling him to surrender. The man grudgingly did so and with some effort the party was able to extract some rudimentary information about who is on the ship. The party realized that if they go as they are, they would be unlikely to be able to bluff their way aboard, and so they concluded that it might be wisest to approach the vessel from a distance around its bow and come at it from the other side, perhaps to take them by surprise.
Trina volunteered to use her levitation ability to carry herself and Sarlac up to the main deck and quietly attach some grappling hooks for the rest of the party, while Etna climbed the anchor chain.
[to be continued]...
Seaton was a metropolis, with a population of roughly 25,000 people. It was a walled city, and virtually every amenity imaginable could be found there, including mages guilds, fighters guilds, a thieve's guild, and several temples.
Sarlac was able to negotiate a fair price for the magic books, and the party went their various ways to train. Tullus used the opportunity to buy himself some nice equipment, as well as a squire and some horses. After training, the party decided to use some excess cash to buy things for themselves. They quickly discovered, however, that most of the money that they gave to Tullus would quickly get given to the church. Although they had no particular grievance against the church that would make them want to not be charitable, they realized that the only way Tullus was likely to have enough money to train when he needed is if the party took over most of his finances, and doled out the cash on an as-needed basis.
After everybody had trained, which took 2 weeks, everybody headed back to Saltmarsh. The trip by horse took only a couple of hours, instead of most of the day as walking to Seaton had. The town council at Saltmarsh advised the party that they had not seen anything yet, but encouraged the party to camp out near the house with the two guards they had posted to see if they could see anything. The first night was unevenful, although the moon was barely a sliver.
The next night, however, there was no moon at all... and while they were out watching in the middle of the night, they saw some flashing coming from the water. The light was coming what they could now see was a ship out at sea, only just barely visible because of some lighting that is being used aboard it. They would probably not have even seen the vessel if it had not been for the bright flashing light that they had just seen. Tristan recognized the pattern, however, and realized it matched the code on the parchment they had found in the house, and using their own lantern, they endeavored to respond as they understood the code to work. Another pattern of flashing lights followed which completed their pattern, and then they waited.
About 30 minutes later, they saw a small boat being rowed up to the cave by one man. The party hid, and the man brought his boat up to the shore, anchored it and called out for Sanbalet. The party quickly jumped out with bows pointed his head telling him to surrender. The man grudgingly did so and with some effort the party was able to extract some rudimentary information about who is on the ship. The party realized that if they go as they are, they would be unlikely to be able to bluff their way aboard, and so they concluded that it might be wisest to approach the vessel from a distance around its bow and come at it from the other side, perhaps to take them by surprise.
Trina volunteered to use her levitation ability to carry herself and Sarlac up to the main deck and quietly attach some grappling hooks for the rest of the party, while Etna climbed the anchor chain.
[to be continued]...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Going back to the haunted house
While the party is preparing to secure their room, they are approached by Marcello, who claims to be from the town council. He has heard that they had recently made a foray into the haunted house, and desires to know if they had discovered anything of significance, claiming that the house has been causing quite a stir of commotion lately, with the strange noises and lights that have been heard or seen near the house. They said that although they had gone into the house, they had not discovered anything of significance other than that it appeared to be empty. He left his name with the party and directed them to contact the town council if they discovered anything of import... not offering any particular reward, per se, but saying that he was authorized to offer them a favor in return for their assistance.
That night, Etna foiled an apparent attempt on some of the party characters' lives, catching an assassin in their room in the middle of the night. Startled, the assassin darted out the window, blindly leaping to the ground. Momentarily stunned by the fall, he was an immobile target from the second floor while the druid in the party used her Entangle spell to prevent the assassin from escaping before he could be questioned.
Unwilling to talk beyond the claim of wanting to seek vengeance, the party bound the assassin and took him the to the courthouse, where it turns out that this assassin was known as Ned Snakeshaft, and a small reward was offered for his capture. The courthouse keeper referred them to speak to somebody from the town council if they wanted to know more.
The following morning, the went to the town council to find out a little more about the fellow who had tried to assassinate them the previous night, and speaking to Marcello, they discovered that apparently he was suspected to be working with a gang of smugglers that have so far evaded all attempts at locating their base of operations. They were told that their leader, Sanbalet, was an illusionist, and when asking for a description of him, they discovered that the magic user they had killed yesterday matched that description quite closely. A reward was offered for either his capture or proof of execution, and not wishing to tip their hand that they had already dispatched this magic user, they decided to say no more about it to Marcello at that time.
Returning to the house, they found it exactly as they had left it, with the dead bodies still strewn about the great room. The party decided to explore more of the house.
Room after room turned out to be virtually empty, however... and finally running out of rooms to search on the main floor, the party proceeded into the cellar, where they found a corpse, dead perhaps some 3 or so weeks, wearing plate mail armor, and having a large shield and a long sword. The body turned out to be infested with rot grubs, however, and there was no real way to get that armor off the body without becoming infected. Tristan decided to risk it, however, since Seamus was ready to offer the benefit of a cure-disease potion to a person who would be infected.
No sooner had he touched the deceased human when a rot grub immediately bore into his hand, and started moving through his body, causing him quite a bit of pain. Working through it, however, he removed the plate mail from the corpse in only a few minutes and then drank one of Seamus's Cure Disease potions, which immediately cured him. Tristan decided he should likely want to clean the armor properly before wearing it and put it in his backpack.
Etna noted a secret door in the room that led to a much larger cellar area, and appeared to possibly be the base of operations for these smugglers, with 10 beds along the wall, each with a small locker at one end. They discovered 2 casks of brandy and a bolt of silk, making a connection between these and the manifest they discovered the previous day. While searching the lockers, Trina spotted a concealed door on one end of the room, which led south, and the party deduced that was a route to the water.
One of the doors appeared to lead to the magic user's room, where they found several vials of colorful potions and the illusionist's spellbook, as well as discovering a parchment with several strange markings on it that could not immediately decoded. A locker within also contained some fighters gear most of which was white with red crosses painted on them.
The other door was barred, and had DANGER written on the door in common. Tristan, curious about what was behind it, opened the door and they saw the body of a human male near the door, bound and either very near or only very recently dead. At the other end of the room were some skeletons, which were not getting any closer to the door or to the party, but appeared threatening nonetheless.
Curious about the person they discovered, they checked to determine if the man was alive. He was, but very dehydrated. They quickly pulled him out of the room and put him onto the bed, sealing the skeletons back in the room, and while they were doing this they noticed that the patterns on his clothes distinctly matched those that were on the armor they had just found in the mage's quarters. Giving the man some water, they were ultimately able to resuscitate him, and he was able to speak clearly enough to ask for food and water, which the party was willing to provide.
After he had been fed, the man introduced himself as Tallus, a paladin of Tyr, and explained that he had come to the house to investigate some strange goings on here, but was overwhelmed by a number of thugs when he arrived, who bound him and threw him in the room with the skeletons to die. He was very grateful for having been rescued however, and pledged allegiance to aid the party to the best of his ability. The party, realizing that the armor they had uncovered likely belonged to this man, returned it to him, and he suited himself up properly.
Tallus insisted that the party should dispatch the skeletons in the other room, as they were an abomination, which the party debated for a couple of minutes but ultimately decided to do. Going in, the skeletons were now lying on the ground, but after they had come further into the room, the skeletons reanimated and began attacking. The narrow quarters in the room made it impossible for any more than two skeletons to attack two party members, so Tallus and Tristan worked steadily at dispatching them. It took many rounds to finish them off, but they ultimately succeeded.
Noticing a secret passageway leading further east, the party opened it to discover what appeared to be, at one time, a magic user's laboratory. The remains of someone who was obviously a magic user was noticed and although most of the equipment in the lab was too old and worn by the passage of time to be useful, they did notice several objects of great value on the desk before the body. A book that the person was obviously reading when he died covered the creation of an object called the Philosopher's Stone, a magic item for turning things into gold, and on the desk, the objects they had noticed before were indeed golden, as if the magic user had some partial success in creating such an item.
Searching the laboratory in more detail, they also uncovered the remains of the magic user's spellbook in a secret compartment. Sarlac examined the book and although he could not determine its contents without further perusal, he stashed the book in his now quickly growing library of books.
Finding nothing more of value, they investigated the secret door they deduced led to the sea, below. Beyond the door was a cavernous passages, leading down closer to sea level, and certainly enough, the party did discover a large opening that lead out to the sea. Also in the cavern, they discovered numerous bolts of cloth and several casks of fine brandy that tallied up what they had initially read in the manifest they discovered. An 8-man cutter ship was discovered that they noticed was large enough that they could probably utilize it to carry all this cargo back to town.
Heading back upstairs, the party investigates several rooms, but due to concerns about unstable floorboards, they are reluctant to check areas where they believe the floor may be unsafe. Trina volunteers to check things out, however. One of the floorboards does give out underneath her in one of the rooms she examines, but Trina does not fall... instead, she simply floats there almost as if nothing had happened. The party, although utterly confused by how she was doing this, is eager to send her to test the remaining areas of the upstairs floor. She does so, finding one more noticeable area where the floor gives way, creating a 5-foot wide hole in the floor that the party would have to jump across to get to the other side.
Most of the party has no difficulty in doing so, but Tristan, who is now quite heavily loaded down with gear, determines that he may not be able to clear that hole and so decides to wait for the party at the bottom of the stairs on the main floor.
Searching the remaining rooms, they discover they are all virtually empty except for one, which had a ragged and dusty cloak hanging on a peg inside a small wardrobe. Etna reached in to grab the cloak but as soon as she touched it, she released several poisonous spores, and she fell unconscious.
The party attempted to use their own facilities to heal her, but could not. They determined they would need to return her quickly to town, as her breathing was unsteady, and she may not have long to live.
Tallis took her to a temple of his own god, where the priests were willing to heal her for a reduced rate on account of Tallis's allegiance. Some minor quibbling about how to pay for the spell occurred, which Tallis quickly settled by pointing out that Etna was dying while they argued about it. Tristan quickly grabbed two amethysts that were worth approximately what it was going to cost to cure her and the priests readily agreed to the exchange. Etna was revived, but was not in any shape to continue adventuring for the remainder of the day. She would need at least a night's rest to continue.
Tristan and Sarlac went to the magistrate to try to claim their reward for stopping Sanbalet's gang. The magistrate was grateful, and paid them 1200 platinum for their efforts.
Some of the party went back to the house to retrieve the casks and bolts of cloth by boat. Upon returning to the docks with the cargo, however, they were told that these contents were contraband and subject to a tarrif. The town council was willing to buy the cargo from them, but at a reduced rate due to the tarrif. The party agreed to the amount. After this, the party decided that they should rest for the night and called it a day.
That night, Etna foiled an apparent attempt on some of the party characters' lives, catching an assassin in their room in the middle of the night. Startled, the assassin darted out the window, blindly leaping to the ground. Momentarily stunned by the fall, he was an immobile target from the second floor while the druid in the party used her Entangle spell to prevent the assassin from escaping before he could be questioned.
Unwilling to talk beyond the claim of wanting to seek vengeance, the party bound the assassin and took him the to the courthouse, where it turns out that this assassin was known as Ned Snakeshaft, and a small reward was offered for his capture. The courthouse keeper referred them to speak to somebody from the town council if they wanted to know more.
The following morning, the went to the town council to find out a little more about the fellow who had tried to assassinate them the previous night, and speaking to Marcello, they discovered that apparently he was suspected to be working with a gang of smugglers that have so far evaded all attempts at locating their base of operations. They were told that their leader, Sanbalet, was an illusionist, and when asking for a description of him, they discovered that the magic user they had killed yesterday matched that description quite closely. A reward was offered for either his capture or proof of execution, and not wishing to tip their hand that they had already dispatched this magic user, they decided to say no more about it to Marcello at that time.
Returning to the house, they found it exactly as they had left it, with the dead bodies still strewn about the great room. The party decided to explore more of the house.
Room after room turned out to be virtually empty, however... and finally running out of rooms to search on the main floor, the party proceeded into the cellar, where they found a corpse, dead perhaps some 3 or so weeks, wearing plate mail armor, and having a large shield and a long sword. The body turned out to be infested with rot grubs, however, and there was no real way to get that armor off the body without becoming infected. Tristan decided to risk it, however, since Seamus was ready to offer the benefit of a cure-disease potion to a person who would be infected.
No sooner had he touched the deceased human when a rot grub immediately bore into his hand, and started moving through his body, causing him quite a bit of pain. Working through it, however, he removed the plate mail from the corpse in only a few minutes and then drank one of Seamus's Cure Disease potions, which immediately cured him. Tristan decided he should likely want to clean the armor properly before wearing it and put it in his backpack.
Etna noted a secret door in the room that led to a much larger cellar area, and appeared to possibly be the base of operations for these smugglers, with 10 beds along the wall, each with a small locker at one end. They discovered 2 casks of brandy and a bolt of silk, making a connection between these and the manifest they discovered the previous day. While searching the lockers, Trina spotted a concealed door on one end of the room, which led south, and the party deduced that was a route to the water.
One of the doors appeared to lead to the magic user's room, where they found several vials of colorful potions and the illusionist's spellbook, as well as discovering a parchment with several strange markings on it that could not immediately decoded. A locker within also contained some fighters gear most of which was white with red crosses painted on them.
The other door was barred, and had DANGER written on the door in common. Tristan, curious about what was behind it, opened the door and they saw the body of a human male near the door, bound and either very near or only very recently dead. At the other end of the room were some skeletons, which were not getting any closer to the door or to the party, but appeared threatening nonetheless.
Curious about the person they discovered, they checked to determine if the man was alive. He was, but very dehydrated. They quickly pulled him out of the room and put him onto the bed, sealing the skeletons back in the room, and while they were doing this they noticed that the patterns on his clothes distinctly matched those that were on the armor they had just found in the mage's quarters. Giving the man some water, they were ultimately able to resuscitate him, and he was able to speak clearly enough to ask for food and water, which the party was willing to provide.
After he had been fed, the man introduced himself as Tallus, a paladin of Tyr, and explained that he had come to the house to investigate some strange goings on here, but was overwhelmed by a number of thugs when he arrived, who bound him and threw him in the room with the skeletons to die. He was very grateful for having been rescued however, and pledged allegiance to aid the party to the best of his ability. The party, realizing that the armor they had uncovered likely belonged to this man, returned it to him, and he suited himself up properly.
Tallus insisted that the party should dispatch the skeletons in the other room, as they were an abomination, which the party debated for a couple of minutes but ultimately decided to do. Going in, the skeletons were now lying on the ground, but after they had come further into the room, the skeletons reanimated and began attacking. The narrow quarters in the room made it impossible for any more than two skeletons to attack two party members, so Tallus and Tristan worked steadily at dispatching them. It took many rounds to finish them off, but they ultimately succeeded.
Noticing a secret passageway leading further east, the party opened it to discover what appeared to be, at one time, a magic user's laboratory. The remains of someone who was obviously a magic user was noticed and although most of the equipment in the lab was too old and worn by the passage of time to be useful, they did notice several objects of great value on the desk before the body. A book that the person was obviously reading when he died covered the creation of an object called the Philosopher's Stone, a magic item for turning things into gold, and on the desk, the objects they had noticed before were indeed golden, as if the magic user had some partial success in creating such an item.
Searching the laboratory in more detail, they also uncovered the remains of the magic user's spellbook in a secret compartment. Sarlac examined the book and although he could not determine its contents without further perusal, he stashed the book in his now quickly growing library of books.
Finding nothing more of value, they investigated the secret door they deduced led to the sea, below. Beyond the door was a cavernous passages, leading down closer to sea level, and certainly enough, the party did discover a large opening that lead out to the sea. Also in the cavern, they discovered numerous bolts of cloth and several casks of fine brandy that tallied up what they had initially read in the manifest they discovered. An 8-man cutter ship was discovered that they noticed was large enough that they could probably utilize it to carry all this cargo back to town.
Heading back upstairs, the party investigates several rooms, but due to concerns about unstable floorboards, they are reluctant to check areas where they believe the floor may be unsafe. Trina volunteers to check things out, however. One of the floorboards does give out underneath her in one of the rooms she examines, but Trina does not fall... instead, she simply floats there almost as if nothing had happened. The party, although utterly confused by how she was doing this, is eager to send her to test the remaining areas of the upstairs floor. She does so, finding one more noticeable area where the floor gives way, creating a 5-foot wide hole in the floor that the party would have to jump across to get to the other side.
Most of the party has no difficulty in doing so, but Tristan, who is now quite heavily loaded down with gear, determines that he may not be able to clear that hole and so decides to wait for the party at the bottom of the stairs on the main floor.
Searching the remaining rooms, they discover they are all virtually empty except for one, which had a ragged and dusty cloak hanging on a peg inside a small wardrobe. Etna reached in to grab the cloak but as soon as she touched it, she released several poisonous spores, and she fell unconscious.
The party attempted to use their own facilities to heal her, but could not. They determined they would need to return her quickly to town, as her breathing was unsteady, and she may not have long to live.
Tallis took her to a temple of his own god, where the priests were willing to heal her for a reduced rate on account of Tallis's allegiance. Some minor quibbling about how to pay for the spell occurred, which Tallis quickly settled by pointing out that Etna was dying while they argued about it. Tristan quickly grabbed two amethysts that were worth approximately what it was going to cost to cure her and the priests readily agreed to the exchange. Etna was revived, but was not in any shape to continue adventuring for the remainder of the day. She would need at least a night's rest to continue.
Tristan and Sarlac went to the magistrate to try to claim their reward for stopping Sanbalet's gang. The magistrate was grateful, and paid them 1200 platinum for their efforts.
Some of the party went back to the house to retrieve the casks and bolts of cloth by boat. Upon returning to the docks with the cargo, however, they were told that these contents were contraband and subject to a tarrif. The town council was willing to buy the cargo from them, but at a reduced rate due to the tarrif. The party agreed to the amount. After this, the party decided that they should rest for the night and called it a day.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The campaign begins
Well, I've finally started my 1st edition AD&D campaign up. I currently have 4 players running 5 PC's.
The party breakdown is as follows:
Tristan, an NG human fighter, with 2 war dogs.
Sarlac, a CG elven ranger/mage
Seamus, an NG human cleric
Etna, a CN elven thief
Trina, a TN half-elven druid. Trina also is psionic, possessing the discipline of Levitation.
This campaign began with everybody in the town of Saltmarsh, a coastal town with a population of about 2000. Most of the PC's have not actually met at the start, but their adventure began with Tristan, who quite desperate for employment, decided to loudly proclaim in an inexpensive tavern pub that he is an adventurer in need of a job. Most of the patrons looked at him like he was some sort of nut that fell too far from his tree to even know he was a nut. One crazy looking old man, however, gave him what he said was a "hot tip" about a haunted house on the high sea-facing cliff to the east of Saltmarsh. Tristan dismissed this guy as some sort of loon before thinking he wasn't going to have much luck here. He seemed eager to get some sort of credit for the tip, but was ambiguous as to how that was going to happen.
Etna has been exploring the town for a while, having lifted a map of the town from a merchant who was none the wiser to her acquisition, and eager to further excercise her skills as a thief, she decided to try to pick somebody's pocket in the market square. Alas, her attempt was discovered and she quickly ran away attempting to lose her pursuers in the crowd by the docks. She quickly blended in with the crowds near the docks and her pursuers abandoned the chase.
Sarlac and Seamus had already met eachother and were travelling together already. Being new to the area, they asked Etna, who they presumed to be from the town, if she knew of a tavern nearby with rooms to stay in. There was one just across the road from where they were standing, and Etna directed them to it. This happened to be the tavern where Tristan was at. Sarlac tied the wardogs harnessess to a post on the tavern porch and they all went in. Seamus asked the tavern keeper how much a room costs, and it turns out to be pretty cheap.
It was at this point that Sarlac's attention was drawn to Tristan, who figured he'd put his offer out there of seeking employment once more before giving up. After Seamus inquired about what was going on, Tristan mentioned the rumor he had heard of a haunted house, and that intrigued most of the others into thinking they should go and check it out.
Meanwhile, outside, Trina has come across the wardogs tied to the post outside the tavern. As Sarlac came outside, he saw Trina petting one of them like it was her own - who had decided to make friends with them. Sarlac is initially disconcerted by this, but soon realizes that Trina meant his dogs no harm, and after exchanging pleasantries, they realize that a druid could be handy to have as a companion, and all of them headed towards the haunted house, which, unbeknownst to them, was being used as a base of operations for a gang of smugglers, led by a 4th level illusionist.
Upon arrival at the house on the hill, they circumnavigate the house once to get their bearings. All of the windows to the house were very dirty and they cannot see clearly into the house, so Tristan decided to break one near a door to take a peek inside. Debating about whether or not the door itself may be trapped, Tristan decides to test it by hurling a large rock at the door. It rattles the door with a resounding BANG, and the rock falls nearby. Unknown to the party, this loud noise had alerted the smuggler in the cellar immediately below that somebody was upstairs, and he went to get the others in his gang, to arrange to attack them. Meanwhile, the party ultimately decided that Etna should examine the door, who didn't find any traps, but proclaimed some measure of uncertainty about whether or not she was correct in that assessment. While others were debating over whether or not they should risk opening the door without being sure if it is really trapped or not, Tristan decides to simply open the door.
The ranger noticed that there were some tracks in the dust leading from the door they came in to a point near the middle of the room, where they seemed to simply disappear. There were no other tracks anywhere that they can discern.
As the party gets closer to the middle of the room, however, the party heard a disemboded voice that says "Welcome fools, to your Deaths!" with a menacing and sinister laugh afterwards. Tristan remarked that perhaps that old man wasn't so crazy after all.
Etna decided to go to the far end of the room and open the door she sees there. They come into a hallway that ends in an open arch and what can be seen even from that side of the hall to be a very large room. There are doors in the middle hallway though, and the party decides to investigate one of them first.
Tristan quickly opened the door to one of the rooms, where they take four goblins completely by surprise. The goblins were unable to even retaliate before Tristan and Sarlac had managed to dispatch them all. Trina's attempts at communicating with them were wholly unsuccessful.
Etna tried, but failed, to pick the locked drawer of a desk in that room, so Tristan decided to pry it open. While he was doing this, 3 more goblins show up, asking if they had killed the goblins in this room. Admitting to it and prepared to fight, the party was quite suprised when one of the goblins, appearing to be a spokesperson for his group says "Good, you saved us the trouble! Those four were useless and deaf!" The goblin said that they had only just arrived as well, and left those "4 useless ones" in that room while they went looking for loot (evidently much as the party was), they overheard the loud noise on the door (that Tristan had actually caused) and figured that the deaf goblins had done something, which was their cause to investigate. Having cleared the matter up, however, the goblin proudly proclaimed himself wholly satisfied with what they had obtained, which was the hide of a giant weasel they had recently killed, claiming its value to be perhaps as much as 2000 gold. The 3 goblins were not interested in a fight and so left the building expeditiously.
Exploring further, the party hears some groaning and creaking sounds coming from great room to the east. Looking in that direction, they see nobody and proceed with caution. When they are all in the room, however, they are ambushed from all directions by 8 humans that look like pirates, a gnoll, and a magic user of some sort.
Tristan quickly rushes to engage three of them coming from one corner of the room, while Sarlac and his dogs handle three more coming at the side. The remaining three defend their rear against the remaining attackers.
The ambushers attacked with their weapons quickly, and the enemy magic user cast Color Spray at them, knocking the 3 characters who were coming up the rear unconscious for 1 round.
Tristan and Sarlac engaged the foes on their respective sides of the room, each managing to do some good damage to their opponents.
Already the tide of battle had started to shift in the party's favor, and Trina, Seamus, and Etna all woke back up before their attackers got a second chance to strike. The magic user shouts in Gnoll "kill them all", as Tristan and Sarlac (with his wardogs) manage to do more damage to their respective opponents, Sarlac even manages to kill one. Tristan took some damage, and so did Etna, who was easier to hit on account of having just woke up. A flurry of melee blows on both sides ensued and Tristan took down one of his opponents, as does Sarlac. Etna kept hurling daggers at the magic user to try to keep him from casting any more spells. Sarlac's war dogs took down one other character, and the enemy magic user, realizing that the tide of the battle may be turning against him, decided to fill the room with fog so as to make his escape. Sarlac decided to try to hit the magic user with his bow, but Trina was in the way and ended up taking the arrow instead.
Seamus and Trina kept holding off the blows of their attackers successfully, while Sarlac targetted a sleep spell at where he recalled the magic user to be. The spell knocked out everybody on that side of the room, including the PC's, although because the room was now entirely filled with fog, nobody could see anything more than 2 feet away - which made anything but melee impossible.
Leaving his dogs to deal with the remaining pirate they had engaged, sarlac made his way to the area of the room where he figured the unconscious PC's were, and woke up Trina first. Trina, not wanting to waste any time, quickly found the bodies of the other unconscious attackers on that side of the room, and dispatched them before they could wake up. Trina then felt her way down the hallway to find what she hoped would be the magic user's body.
Tristan, meanwhile, was struggling to hold his own, as best as he could, against his remaining two attackers, who were slowly whittling away his hitpoints. Most of the other party members could hear the struggle and made their way towards him while Seamus tried to feel his way towards the outside door to open it and try to dissipate the fog. Trina found the magic user's body and dispatched him as well. Trina then searched the magic user, finding a key, a piece of paper with "MANIFEST: 9 Bolts, 15 Brandy" written on it, and a few amethysts, that she decided to pocket for later.
By the time that Sarlac and Etna had reached Tristan, there was just one pirate left, which they were able to dispatch quickly. Tristan was very badly hurt, however, and needed immediate medical care. Seamus had found the front door to the house and once open, the fog dissipated quickly. Seamus did some healing on the injured party members, but even after this, Tristan was still in pretty bad shape. The party decided to take the opportunity to search the bodies, finding assorted loot and concluded that these characters were from a ship of some sort. Concerned there might be further attacks, however, the party decided to make a tactical retreat at this juncture to get a night's rest in Saltmarsh before trying to make another foray into this building. On their way out, Tristan made a remark that he wants to find that old man and ring his neck, thinking he could easily have had something to do with the ambush. In town, they were able to liquidate some of the loot they had obtained from the smugglers, and used it to purchase a room from one of the finest inns in town.
The party breakdown is as follows:
Tristan, an NG human fighter, with 2 war dogs.
Sarlac, a CG elven ranger/mage
Seamus, an NG human cleric
Etna, a CN elven thief
Trina, a TN half-elven druid. Trina also is psionic, possessing the discipline of Levitation.
This campaign began with everybody in the town of Saltmarsh, a coastal town with a population of about 2000. Most of the PC's have not actually met at the start, but their adventure began with Tristan, who quite desperate for employment, decided to loudly proclaim in an inexpensive tavern pub that he is an adventurer in need of a job. Most of the patrons looked at him like he was some sort of nut that fell too far from his tree to even know he was a nut. One crazy looking old man, however, gave him what he said was a "hot tip" about a haunted house on the high sea-facing cliff to the east of Saltmarsh. Tristan dismissed this guy as some sort of loon before thinking he wasn't going to have much luck here. He seemed eager to get some sort of credit for the tip, but was ambiguous as to how that was going to happen.
Etna has been exploring the town for a while, having lifted a map of the town from a merchant who was none the wiser to her acquisition, and eager to further excercise her skills as a thief, she decided to try to pick somebody's pocket in the market square. Alas, her attempt was discovered and she quickly ran away attempting to lose her pursuers in the crowd by the docks. She quickly blended in with the crowds near the docks and her pursuers abandoned the chase.
Sarlac and Seamus had already met eachother and were travelling together already. Being new to the area, they asked Etna, who they presumed to be from the town, if she knew of a tavern nearby with rooms to stay in. There was one just across the road from where they were standing, and Etna directed them to it. This happened to be the tavern where Tristan was at. Sarlac tied the wardogs harnessess to a post on the tavern porch and they all went in. Seamus asked the tavern keeper how much a room costs, and it turns out to be pretty cheap.
It was at this point that Sarlac's attention was drawn to Tristan, who figured he'd put his offer out there of seeking employment once more before giving up. After Seamus inquired about what was going on, Tristan mentioned the rumor he had heard of a haunted house, and that intrigued most of the others into thinking they should go and check it out.
Meanwhile, outside, Trina has come across the wardogs tied to the post outside the tavern. As Sarlac came outside, he saw Trina petting one of them like it was her own - who had decided to make friends with them. Sarlac is initially disconcerted by this, but soon realizes that Trina meant his dogs no harm, and after exchanging pleasantries, they realize that a druid could be handy to have as a companion, and all of them headed towards the haunted house, which, unbeknownst to them, was being used as a base of operations for a gang of smugglers, led by a 4th level illusionist.
Upon arrival at the house on the hill, they circumnavigate the house once to get their bearings. All of the windows to the house were very dirty and they cannot see clearly into the house, so Tristan decided to break one near a door to take a peek inside. Debating about whether or not the door itself may be trapped, Tristan decides to test it by hurling a large rock at the door. It rattles the door with a resounding BANG, and the rock falls nearby. Unknown to the party, this loud noise had alerted the smuggler in the cellar immediately below that somebody was upstairs, and he went to get the others in his gang, to arrange to attack them. Meanwhile, the party ultimately decided that Etna should examine the door, who didn't find any traps, but proclaimed some measure of uncertainty about whether or not she was correct in that assessment. While others were debating over whether or not they should risk opening the door without being sure if it is really trapped or not, Tristan decides to simply open the door.
The ranger noticed that there were some tracks in the dust leading from the door they came in to a point near the middle of the room, where they seemed to simply disappear. There were no other tracks anywhere that they can discern.
As the party gets closer to the middle of the room, however, the party heard a disemboded voice that says "Welcome fools, to your Deaths!" with a menacing and sinister laugh afterwards. Tristan remarked that perhaps that old man wasn't so crazy after all.
Etna decided to go to the far end of the room and open the door she sees there. They come into a hallway that ends in an open arch and what can be seen even from that side of the hall to be a very large room. There are doors in the middle hallway though, and the party decides to investigate one of them first.
Tristan quickly opened the door to one of the rooms, where they take four goblins completely by surprise. The goblins were unable to even retaliate before Tristan and Sarlac had managed to dispatch them all. Trina's attempts at communicating with them were wholly unsuccessful.
Etna tried, but failed, to pick the locked drawer of a desk in that room, so Tristan decided to pry it open. While he was doing this, 3 more goblins show up, asking if they had killed the goblins in this room. Admitting to it and prepared to fight, the party was quite suprised when one of the goblins, appearing to be a spokesperson for his group says "Good, you saved us the trouble! Those four were useless and deaf!" The goblin said that they had only just arrived as well, and left those "4 useless ones" in that room while they went looking for loot (evidently much as the party was), they overheard the loud noise on the door (that Tristan had actually caused) and figured that the deaf goblins had done something, which was their cause to investigate. Having cleared the matter up, however, the goblin proudly proclaimed himself wholly satisfied with what they had obtained, which was the hide of a giant weasel they had recently killed, claiming its value to be perhaps as much as 2000 gold. The 3 goblins were not interested in a fight and so left the building expeditiously.
Exploring further, the party hears some groaning and creaking sounds coming from great room to the east. Looking in that direction, they see nobody and proceed with caution. When they are all in the room, however, they are ambushed from all directions by 8 humans that look like pirates, a gnoll, and a magic user of some sort.
Tristan quickly rushes to engage three of them coming from one corner of the room, while Sarlac and his dogs handle three more coming at the side. The remaining three defend their rear against the remaining attackers.
The ambushers attacked with their weapons quickly, and the enemy magic user cast Color Spray at them, knocking the 3 characters who were coming up the rear unconscious for 1 round.
Tristan and Sarlac engaged the foes on their respective sides of the room, each managing to do some good damage to their opponents.
Already the tide of battle had started to shift in the party's favor, and Trina, Seamus, and Etna all woke back up before their attackers got a second chance to strike. The magic user shouts in Gnoll "kill them all", as Tristan and Sarlac (with his wardogs) manage to do more damage to their respective opponents, Sarlac even manages to kill one. Tristan took some damage, and so did Etna, who was easier to hit on account of having just woke up. A flurry of melee blows on both sides ensued and Tristan took down one of his opponents, as does Sarlac. Etna kept hurling daggers at the magic user to try to keep him from casting any more spells. Sarlac's war dogs took down one other character, and the enemy magic user, realizing that the tide of the battle may be turning against him, decided to fill the room with fog so as to make his escape. Sarlac decided to try to hit the magic user with his bow, but Trina was in the way and ended up taking the arrow instead.
Seamus and Trina kept holding off the blows of their attackers successfully, while Sarlac targetted a sleep spell at where he recalled the magic user to be. The spell knocked out everybody on that side of the room, including the PC's, although because the room was now entirely filled with fog, nobody could see anything more than 2 feet away - which made anything but melee impossible.
Leaving his dogs to deal with the remaining pirate they had engaged, sarlac made his way to the area of the room where he figured the unconscious PC's were, and woke up Trina first. Trina, not wanting to waste any time, quickly found the bodies of the other unconscious attackers on that side of the room, and dispatched them before they could wake up. Trina then felt her way down the hallway to find what she hoped would be the magic user's body.
Tristan, meanwhile, was struggling to hold his own, as best as he could, against his remaining two attackers, who were slowly whittling away his hitpoints. Most of the other party members could hear the struggle and made their way towards him while Seamus tried to feel his way towards the outside door to open it and try to dissipate the fog. Trina found the magic user's body and dispatched him as well. Trina then searched the magic user, finding a key, a piece of paper with "MANIFEST: 9 Bolts, 15 Brandy" written on it, and a few amethysts, that she decided to pocket for later.
By the time that Sarlac and Etna had reached Tristan, there was just one pirate left, which they were able to dispatch quickly. Tristan was very badly hurt, however, and needed immediate medical care. Seamus had found the front door to the house and once open, the fog dissipated quickly. Seamus did some healing on the injured party members, but even after this, Tristan was still in pretty bad shape. The party decided to take the opportunity to search the bodies, finding assorted loot and concluded that these characters were from a ship of some sort. Concerned there might be further attacks, however, the party decided to make a tactical retreat at this juncture to get a night's rest in Saltmarsh before trying to make another foray into this building. On their way out, Tristan made a remark that he wants to find that old man and ring his neck, thinking he could easily have had something to do with the ambush. In town, they were able to liquidate some of the loot they had obtained from the smugglers, and used it to purchase a room from one of the finest inns in town.
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