Real Date: (Thursday) February 28, 2008 - Location: St. Mark Ezekiel Room (Mt. Prospect, IL) - Lou's DnD 3.5 Campaign - Session #18
The night begins and James takes his session 17 quiz - Bravo!
We follow that painful event with the Magic Item Competition:
A) Magic Hammer of Utility
B) Del.Icio.Us
C) Seeds of Well-Being
D) Artifact of Cydonian Justice
E) Stone Tower Ring
F) Ancient Longbow of Slaughter
G) The Flickr
H) Window of Opportunity
I) Longbow of Doubling
J) Bracers of Rephestos
K) The Recapitator
L) +2/+2 Arrow (part 1 of set)
M) Magic Urn of Bat Screeches
N) Magical "Pod" Amulet of Bardic
O) Friendly Fire Pendant
P) Gnomish Magic Lantern
Q) Bow of Eon (part 2 of set)
R) Portable Adventuring House
S) Pipefitters Ring
T) "You"Tube
U) Sheath of Many Blades
Much discussion ensues, we vote (for any but our own) and the winners are:
MOST CREATIVE: The Recapitator by Paco (Pilgor)
MOST USEFUL TO THE GROUP: Portable Adventuring House by Paco (Pilgor)
MOST FUN: Sheath of Many Blades by Scott (Ensho)
DM's Note: Prizes in the form of experience and gold are awarded and some characters advance in level, even with the current state of affairs.
Roll Call:
Scott as the 3rd Level Elf Wizard Ensho (Log-Keeper)
James as the 3rd Level Elf Fighter Zerzer (Figure-Mover)
Andy as the 3rd Level Elf Fighter Araster
Hugo as the 4th Level uman Wizard Kalus
Alex as the 3rd level Human Fighter Darence
Pat as the 3rd Level Elf Fighter Flynla (Map-Keeper)
Paco as the 4rd Level Dwarf Fighter-turned-Cleric Pilgor (Battle-Board)
Log-Keeper: Scott (Ensho)
By The Light and The Way! Gard 23
The true believers chapter begins... Present: Ensho, Araster, Pilgor and Zerzer(B).
The light around the door fades away as Zerzer stumbles back into the room. Soon after, a guard opens the door as they heard a commotion - the guards realize that not all the party are present and accounted for. Sergeant Sabat shows up in a few minutes and questions us as to where the others went. We explain that the ones who have "disappeared" were not our friends and that they magic'ed themselves away; we try to prove that our presence in the room proves that we were not the evil characters who perpetrated the unspeakable acts, which led us to this situation in the first place.
It would seem that sergeant Sabat doesn't quite believe us and we are tied to chairs for the night. The posted guards proceed to make bets on our fate come morning. . . . none sound too good to me, by the way.
Upon awakening they try to serve us gruel which we decline to eat. We are carried, still tied to our chairs down to the common room. Sergeant Sabat cries out, "All rise for his honorable Magistrate Malcolm Fauste!"
Fauste is quite pleased to meet us, particularly Zerzer in such a situation. We are accused of many crimes: rape, murder, pillaging, looting, wanton destruction of property, theft, cow-tipping, etc. Doesn't look too good for us! We do at least get a chance to plead our case. After issuing our "not guilty" please, Sabat will cross-examine.
It...Does...NOT...Go...Well!
Numerous witnesses are brought forth to speak against us. Even Carskos popped up and accused us of starting fights with "hapless" Kobolds, although we did hear the faint clink of coins soon after he spoke - the money-grubbing bastige!
Sergeant Sabat speaks his piece and is convinced of our guilt. Magistrate Fauste indicates that things look bad for us, yet allows us to speak one final time.
We try. We really do. Ensho goes so far as to appease the court and prove his innocence that he is willing to convert to the path of the Light and the Way!
Fauste convenes for an hour and comes back with the verdicts:
For Pilgor on the various counts - GUILTY!
For Zerzer on the various counts - GUILTY!
For Araster on the various counts - GUILTY!
For Ensho on the various counts - NOT GUILTY pending initiation and conversion to the way.
The penalty: DEATH! To be carried out immediately. Pilgor, Araster and Zerzer are brought to the gallows and put to the noose. A large, hooded figure (who looks extremely similar to Gort) comes forth, strides up the stairs of the gallows, grasps the levers and pulls one after the other resulting in …
Pilgor - DIES!
Zerzer - DIES!
Araster - DIES!
As one of his first acts as a initiate of the Light and the Way, Sabat orders Ensho to cut down the bodies and help drag them out to the fields for disposal.
PAT TAKES OVER THE LOG...
We are on the side of a mountain by a cave entrance. Tirvan tells us that the savior of the valley is in a castle further up the mountain path we are on. There is an item (the statue in the commons room) in Vandy's which when certain words are spoken and gestures performed, creates a portal to this location. There is supposedly a similar portal-making device in the cave, according to Tirvan who was told by Anthony (Tony) - the crazed old man looking for troll parts. We are about seven days from Vandy's, well southeast of the Wailing Woods. Tirvan agrees and attempts to teach the incantation and gestures to Kalus who succeeds (we'll call this incantation N38 for now)!
We quiz Tirvan and find that he has no measurable skills except those needed for his bits and bridle shop. Kalus sends Riksa his female rat familiar in to check out the cave. She scurries in and after some distance senses food and then fear of falling from a great height. We proceed in to what appears to be a hewn and not naturally formed cave passage leading deeper into the mountainside.
Approximately fifty feet in we find a dormant mushroom "thing" - it appears humanoid but is not moving although bugs and other fauna appear to be living on it's "flesh". We leave it alone and proceed further in only to encounter a second 'shroom approximately fifty feet away. One-hundred-fifty feet in and the passage narrows from ten feet wide to five feet. At this point the sweat on the brow of Kalus is forming in larger drops and starting to run down his face; he pauses for a few minutes and regains his composure with no help from Zerzer who continues to push; looks like Kalus survived a bout of claustrophobia. Fifty feet into the more narrow passage and we begin to smell a sickly-sweet cloying smell. Another fifty feet and I lose my chow but I recover and press on after a few minutes.
Three hundred feet in and we discover a sinkhole at least fifty feet deep (we cannot see bottom); wet, squishy, squelchy sounds seem to emanate from the sinkhole. Why is Zerzer being so pushy? We decide that Zerzer should go down since he is in such a hurry and wants to kill something.
We lower him eighty to ninety feet and he feels like he is standing on bodies but as we are in a mountainside and not outside he cannot see anything so we pull him back up. There is a deep and heavy rumbling that lasts for approximately fifteen seconds; we cannot determine exactly where the sound is coming from so we prepare for an attack that never materializes.
We lower Zerzer again, this time with a torch and fire-making materials. Zerzer reaches the bottom and ignites his torch as well as the thin coat of oil on the bodies. Ash of Zerzer precedes the fireball that races up from the sinkhole and although Darence and I dive safely back into the passage, Kalus is caught holding the rope. Kalus survives the blast and we hear movement down below. Yelling Zerzer's names nets no response and the air is thick with smoke so we retreat back up the passage.
As we approach the entrance we find both fungoids are now missing and the shallow alcoves they occupied contain no hidden passages - just fungal residue. We make it back to the entrance only to find it is now sealed by a massive stone wall - so massive that sound from outside does not penetrate and knocking on it does not produce a noticeable echo. Kalus loses it and curls up on the floor in a fetal position, helpless and mentally shut down. We go back down the tunnel, leaving the gibbering Kalus in the dark to re-examine the alcoves - nothing. I pick up Kalus and we start back to the sinkhole room.
As we near the spot where the passage narrows we see a line of charred and still-smoking undead shuffling toward us. . . ZOMBIES!
Special thanks to all for participating in the Magic Item Contest.