Sterling did not show up for tonight's session. He did not give us any notice, so we don't know why he didn't make it...just sort of no-showed. Fortunately it didn't spoil what ended up being a great session, maybe our best yet!
The party decided to turn back from the passage they were heading through and pass through the yellow stone doors. After going through an empty transitional room, they found themselves in a room full of devilish statues - there were also dwarven statues, or so they thought...they discovered that the dwarven statues were actually duergar statues when the statues came to life, along with a number of stone warrior statues and a pair of gargoyles. The gargoyles managed to knock Amnon into dying with their brutal attacks, but the party handled this encounter with relative ease; the stone warriors were a non-factor, and the duergar guards couldn't do much to the party.
In the next chamber, they immediately found themselves in a new encounter - a mesmeric-eye basilisk and its master, a troglodyte curse chanter, clad in an animal skull. This encounter started out rather simply - the party focused most of their attacks on the basilisk, while a few ranged attacks were thrown at the curse chanter. Things got interesting, however, when Deckard triggered a pit trap and fell down onto a greased slide which deposited him into a small cavern. Inside this cavern were a pair of otyughs, named "Gutter" and "Yummer"...apparently pets of the troglodytes. Things looked bad for Deckard, who brought Misha down to help - he chewed through a number of dailies and all of his healing abilites to keep himself alive. Above, the party dealt with the basilisk and the curse chanter, then set about figuring out what to do about the pits. This is where things took a turn for the ridiculous.
First off, Sal had to leave for dinner - as a result I ended up running his character, and I decided based on previous roleplaying decisions that Nirreh's character would be likely to head down into the pit to try and help Deckard. Her heart was in the right place, but her Athletics check to climb down the rope Shivra lowered down was not, and she fell down into the pit as well. Confusion began to set in as the party tried to decide what to do - Seamus nearly followed Nirreh down, but was convinced not to by Vorgym. The otyughs made getting to the ropes extremely difficult with their tentacle attacks, pulling Deckard and Nirreh away from the rope. Eventually, the party finally came to the decision that they would have Deckard & Nirreh tie themselves to the rope, greased from rolling down the slide, and the party would pull them up. At the same time, Sal got back and wondered quite aloud why the hell he was down in the pit. Let this be a lesson, players - when you leave, the DM gets control of your characters, and his decisions may not always be your decisions =P
With their plan in mind, the party set to trying to pull up Deckard and Nirreh. Unfortunately, the otyughs had other plans, and the party ended up in a tug-of-war. With Shivra having the main hold on the rope, Seamus & Vorgym made assist rolls to try and get the two pulled up - unfortunately, Shivra's +2 strength modifier didn't match up well with the otyughs' +9 modifiers. After a lot of joking around and cul-de-sac activity, Seamus took the rope from Shivra and pulled the group up the rest of the way.
This was quite a session...Deckard made a point of using Misha as cannon fodder for the otyughs, Sal lost his shit over Deckard being a mute, and Deckard & Nirreh got some much-needed bonding time...looking forward to next session, guys, see you then!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Session #28: Entry into the Vault
Sal was unable to attend this session, and Andrew missed a good chunk of it. On to the recap.
The party was taken to see Gregor Amberforge, who informed them he had been told of their coming by a half-orc. He explained to them that the Amberforge Vault had been broken into from below by a group of troglodytes, and they had made a home out of it. He offered to let them take "what they could carry" from the vault if they cleared it out for him, and the party agreed.
They were escorted to the vault by some of Gregor's guards, and there they met a large nest of spiders guarding the entrance. The party used the spider rod to navigate past the spiders in a tense stand-off - they entered the vault by having Seamus bull-rush into the heavy vault door to knock it open. Once inside, they found a dead dwarven guard of the vault had activated its defenses. Past the next door, they encountered a large group of troglodytes, who attacked the party immediately - this battle sent Vorgym into dying and nearly did the same to Seamus. Notably, the party failed 4 out of 5 coup de grace attempts when 2 of the maulers were put to sleep.
After this encounter, the party recovered 900 silver pieces from an altar which had an inscription on it in dwarven. It read: "Abathor Amberforge, father of our house, passes on this knowledge to all who enter. Wealth be the key for which all doors open. Your key be as the door." The room had a yellow stone door to the west and a gray stone door to the east; each door had a small slot in it with Dwarven tally marks above indicating a specific number. The party first went to the yellow door, which had the number "14" over it, and put 14 silver pieces in. This caused a trap to trigger, dropping a large jar of acid on Seamus - this did damage and weakened his armor, giving him a -2 penalty. After this, they went to the gray door and put coins in - this caused the door to open. They established that the doors would only open if the correct amount of coins of the corresponding color (gold for yellow doors, silver for gray doors) were put into the slot.
This knowledge in tow, the party headed through the gray door and 2 more doors, finding themselves in a larger chamber with a tapered passage. Shivra found a number of traps in this room - a pit trap in the large northern part, a pressure plate (which she disabled) at the northern part of the passage, and another pit trap in the middle of the passage. We stopped here for the night.
Hope you enjoyed the read. I'll see everyone for next session!
The party was taken to see Gregor Amberforge, who informed them he had been told of their coming by a half-orc. He explained to them that the Amberforge Vault had been broken into from below by a group of troglodytes, and they had made a home out of it. He offered to let them take "what they could carry" from the vault if they cleared it out for him, and the party agreed.
They were escorted to the vault by some of Gregor's guards, and there they met a large nest of spiders guarding the entrance. The party used the spider rod to navigate past the spiders in a tense stand-off - they entered the vault by having Seamus bull-rush into the heavy vault door to knock it open. Once inside, they found a dead dwarven guard of the vault had activated its defenses. Past the next door, they encountered a large group of troglodytes, who attacked the party immediately - this battle sent Vorgym into dying and nearly did the same to Seamus. Notably, the party failed 4 out of 5 coup de grace attempts when 2 of the maulers were put to sleep.
After this encounter, the party recovered 900 silver pieces from an altar which had an inscription on it in dwarven. It read: "Abathor Amberforge, father of our house, passes on this knowledge to all who enter. Wealth be the key for which all doors open. Your key be as the door." The room had a yellow stone door to the west and a gray stone door to the east; each door had a small slot in it with Dwarven tally marks above indicating a specific number. The party first went to the yellow door, which had the number "14" over it, and put 14 silver pieces in. This caused a trap to trigger, dropping a large jar of acid on Seamus - this did damage and weakened his armor, giving him a -2 penalty. After this, they went to the gray door and put coins in - this caused the door to open. They established that the doors would only open if the correct amount of coins of the corresponding color (gold for yellow doors, silver for gray doors) were put into the slot.
This knowledge in tow, the party headed through the gray door and 2 more doors, finding themselves in a larger chamber with a tapered passage. Shivra found a number of traps in this room - a pit trap in the large northern part, a pressure plate (which she disabled) at the northern part of the passage, and another pit trap in the middle of the passage. We stopped here for the night.
Hope you enjoyed the read. I'll see everyone for next session!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
iPlay4e
I discovered a website which might make managing our character sheets easier - http://iplay4e.appspot.com/. This allows you to upload your exported file from the Character Builder to a personal account, and run an interactive copy of your character sheet in your browser. Since it's not on one account, we should all be able to use it at once - talk to me if you want more information about this, guys!
Session #27: Bears in Sweaters
Sterling was unable to make it for this session. I rolled for curing his filth fever, and he managed to cure it. On with the recap.
The party went up to the Lolth statue and inspecting it, discovering that a necromantic arcane residue lingered around the empty sarcophagus in the statue's base. They then managed to find a switch hidden on the sarcophagus which, when pushed, cause it to slide out of the way, revealing a stairway. This stairway led into a giant spider nest with a number of human-shaped cocoons. Inside these cocoons were the bodies of the previous party: Iados, Gwenn, Erik, Aludiana and Reed. Erik & Reed had identifying medallions on their corpses which were recovered by the party. The party also managed to recover a pair of Boots of Rapid Motion, which Vorgym took. Unfortunately, picking these boots up also awoke the ancient tomb spider the party had encountered earlier.
This encounter, however, showed the party that the spider rod would allow them to exert limited control over spiders. This allowed them to keep the ancient tomb spider from attacking them before they were able to escape. They returned to Cairnmoor and found out who the medallions they recovered belonged to. They recieved a 500 gold piece reward, and free rooms at the Misty Morning Inn - the innkeeper, Torrin McCarver, also said he would try and get them some winter clothes for their trip through the Winterspring Mountains to Amberforge.
The next morning, Torrin did indeed have winter clothing for him - including a sweater for Misha. Their clothing in tow, the party headed up the trade road to Amberforge, encounting a group of bears along the way. They defeated the bears fairly easily, and arrived in Amberforge. There they found a number of shops where they could buy some magic items, and after doing so they headed to the inns and went to sleep. Their sleep was interrupted by a large force of Amberforge guards who ordered the party to come with them, as Gregor Amberforge, a member of Amberforge's ruling clan, had asked to speak wit them. The party reluctantly agreed, and were escorted off - we ended the session on that cliffhanger.
A few logistical notes - since Amberforge has a much more active trade community than Cairnmoor, the party can find common & uncommon magic items up to level 4. If you are interested in buying something, please log into D&D Insider and check out the Compendium or the Character Builder's magic item database - if you see anything you'd like to shop for, write down that information and come prepared for next session on Wednesday. Additionally, Sterling - please add 249 gold pieces & 91 experience points to Seamus' total!
Thanks for reading guys - since next Wednesday is close to Thanksgiving, please let me know if this will create a schedule problem for anyone. Thanks!
The party went up to the Lolth statue and inspecting it, discovering that a necromantic arcane residue lingered around the empty sarcophagus in the statue's base. They then managed to find a switch hidden on the sarcophagus which, when pushed, cause it to slide out of the way, revealing a stairway. This stairway led into a giant spider nest with a number of human-shaped cocoons. Inside these cocoons were the bodies of the previous party: Iados, Gwenn, Erik, Aludiana and Reed. Erik & Reed had identifying medallions on their corpses which were recovered by the party. The party also managed to recover a pair of Boots of Rapid Motion, which Vorgym took. Unfortunately, picking these boots up also awoke the ancient tomb spider the party had encountered earlier.
This encounter, however, showed the party that the spider rod would allow them to exert limited control over spiders. This allowed them to keep the ancient tomb spider from attacking them before they were able to escape. They returned to Cairnmoor and found out who the medallions they recovered belonged to. They recieved a 500 gold piece reward, and free rooms at the Misty Morning Inn - the innkeeper, Torrin McCarver, also said he would try and get them some winter clothes for their trip through the Winterspring Mountains to Amberforge.
The next morning, Torrin did indeed have winter clothing for him - including a sweater for Misha. Their clothing in tow, the party headed up the trade road to Amberforge, encounting a group of bears along the way. They defeated the bears fairly easily, and arrived in Amberforge. There they found a number of shops where they could buy some magic items, and after doing so they headed to the inns and went to sleep. Their sleep was interrupted by a large force of Amberforge guards who ordered the party to come with them, as Gregor Amberforge, a member of Amberforge's ruling clan, had asked to speak wit them. The party reluctantly agreed, and were escorted off - we ended the session on that cliffhanger.
A few logistical notes - since Amberforge has a much more active trade community than Cairnmoor, the party can find common & uncommon magic items up to level 4. If you are interested in buying something, please log into D&D Insider and check out the Compendium or the Character Builder's magic item database - if you see anything you'd like to shop for, write down that information and come prepared for next session on Wednesday. Additionally, Sterling - please add 249 gold pieces & 91 experience points to Seamus' total!
Thanks for reading guys - since next Wednesday is close to Thanksgiving, please let me know if this will create a schedule problem for anyone. Thanks!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Falconia: A Visitor's Guide
- Written by Orvel Fireside, legendary explorer & Captain-Confidant of the Redbeard Clan, 6th of Winterseve, 100 C.E.
A color-coded chart of the sections & districts of Falconia.
Falconia, the City on the White Crest. Once a simple port town established by the empire of Nerath to allow them to better transport goods to the old imperial capital in Highroad, Falconia has grown into the largest and busiest of Titania's cities. Though Highroad remained the capital until well after the collapse of Nerath, Falconia was made Titania's seat of power in 71 C.E., approximately 30 years ago. This change was necessitated not only by Falconia's growth into Titania's largest city, but by the ascension of King Justician Hawklane. Though his rule was brief and the four major cities of Titania have since returned to recognizing their own rule, many, particularly humans, still see Falconia as Titania's capital, and in a sense it still is - Falconia continues to host the Wintersend Assembly, a meeting of the leaders of the four major cities with various other diplomats in attendance, as it has done since Justician's ascension.
Most visitors to Falconia will enter the city in one of two ways: either along the High Road (highlighted in gray) passing through the miles of farmsteads which provide food for the city (highlighted in red), or through arriving by boat at one of Falconia's two large harbors (highlighted in purple). From there, most visitors will head to the Wayfarer's District (highlighted in green) to shop at the markets, rest in one of its many inns or revel in the taverns of those inns. The Wayfarer's District is built to be welcoming to all travelers, and it is known for the Wayfarer's Grand Basilica, a large temple near the center of the district dedicated to the worship of Avandra, Corellon, Kord & Moradin.
Visitors of a more noble persuasion often bypass the Wayfarer's District, instead heading into the Manor Rows (highlighted in gold) - city's upscale aristocratic district, where the many Falconian nobles reside in grand manor houses. Many of the more upscale guildhouses are also found here, as well as the Cathedral of St. Valerus, a church near the southern part of the district dedicated to worship of Bahamut, Erathis & Pelor.
At the very tip of the peninsular cliff (known as the White Crest) upon which most of Falconia is built sits Castle Seahawk (highlighted in royal blue), Falconia's seat of power and home to the ruling family, House Hawklane. The grand castle overlooks Titan's Breath Bay and its parapets burn with great bonfires, allowing the castle to serve as a lighthouse of sorts. Falconia's current ruler, Duke Graeme Hawklane, holds court here, and the Falconian leg of the High Road ends at the gates of the castle.
Though the above covers the areas of Falconia that most visitors would frequent, for completion's sake, the Tracts (highlighted in brown) must be discussed as well. Originally carved out from the sheer cliffs to facilitate passage between the harbors below and Falconia proper above, the Tracts have since been claimed by the poor, the destitute and the criminal as residences. Citizens in the Tracts live in hovels built into carved-out sections of wall originally used by workers or precariously hung along scaffolds. The great roads once used to take caravans through the passages have been claimed by these citizens; black market stalls, criminal guildhouses and various other unsavory establishments clog the roads down to winding horse-paths. Though the flow of goods into Falconia continues unimpeded thanks to more modern roads passing through the farmsteads, most of Falconia's citizens see the Tracts as a cancer upon their city and make a point of avoiding them.
This covers the various districts of Falconia - before ending this guide, it would be beneficial to speak briefly on the Falconian citizenry. Most of Falconia's citizens are human, but there are a number of half-elves found in the city as well. The other races are found in smaller numbers, primarily made up of small communities of dwarves, halflings, elves and tieflings, but Falconia is a large enough city that all Titania's races have a few representatives living within the city. No matter what race you are or where you hail from, you should be able to find a little bit of home when you visit the City on the White Crest.
Falconia, the City on the White Crest. Once a simple port town established by the empire of Nerath to allow them to better transport goods to the old imperial capital in Highroad, Falconia has grown into the largest and busiest of Titania's cities. Though Highroad remained the capital until well after the collapse of Nerath, Falconia was made Titania's seat of power in 71 C.E., approximately 30 years ago. This change was necessitated not only by Falconia's growth into Titania's largest city, but by the ascension of King Justician Hawklane. Though his rule was brief and the four major cities of Titania have since returned to recognizing their own rule, many, particularly humans, still see Falconia as Titania's capital, and in a sense it still is - Falconia continues to host the Wintersend Assembly, a meeting of the leaders of the four major cities with various other diplomats in attendance, as it has done since Justician's ascension.
Most visitors to Falconia will enter the city in one of two ways: either along the High Road (highlighted in gray) passing through the miles of farmsteads which provide food for the city (highlighted in red), or through arriving by boat at one of Falconia's two large harbors (highlighted in purple). From there, most visitors will head to the Wayfarer's District (highlighted in green) to shop at the markets, rest in one of its many inns or revel in the taverns of those inns. The Wayfarer's District is built to be welcoming to all travelers, and it is known for the Wayfarer's Grand Basilica, a large temple near the center of the district dedicated to the worship of Avandra, Corellon, Kord & Moradin.
Visitors of a more noble persuasion often bypass the Wayfarer's District, instead heading into the Manor Rows (highlighted in gold) - city's upscale aristocratic district, where the many Falconian nobles reside in grand manor houses. Many of the more upscale guildhouses are also found here, as well as the Cathedral of St. Valerus, a church near the southern part of the district dedicated to worship of Bahamut, Erathis & Pelor.
At the very tip of the peninsular cliff (known as the White Crest) upon which most of Falconia is built sits Castle Seahawk (highlighted in royal blue), Falconia's seat of power and home to the ruling family, House Hawklane. The grand castle overlooks Titan's Breath Bay and its parapets burn with great bonfires, allowing the castle to serve as a lighthouse of sorts. Falconia's current ruler, Duke Graeme Hawklane, holds court here, and the Falconian leg of the High Road ends at the gates of the castle.
Though the above covers the areas of Falconia that most visitors would frequent, for completion's sake, the Tracts (highlighted in brown) must be discussed as well. Originally carved out from the sheer cliffs to facilitate passage between the harbors below and Falconia proper above, the Tracts have since been claimed by the poor, the destitute and the criminal as residences. Citizens in the Tracts live in hovels built into carved-out sections of wall originally used by workers or precariously hung along scaffolds. The great roads once used to take caravans through the passages have been claimed by these citizens; black market stalls, criminal guildhouses and various other unsavory establishments clog the roads down to winding horse-paths. Though the flow of goods into Falconia continues unimpeded thanks to more modern roads passing through the farmsteads, most of Falconia's citizens see the Tracts as a cancer upon their city and make a point of avoiding them.
This covers the various districts of Falconia - before ending this guide, it would be beneficial to speak briefly on the Falconian citizenry. Most of Falconia's citizens are human, but there are a number of half-elves found in the city as well. The other races are found in smaller numbers, primarily made up of small communities of dwarves, halflings, elves and tieflings, but Falconia is a large enough city that all Titania's races have a few representatives living within the city. No matter what race you are or where you hail from, you should be able to find a little bit of home when you visit the City on the White Crest.
Lore Dumps
For those of you interested, I plan on posting "lore dumps" from time to time - "articles" written by various in-game characters on certain aspects of Titania. I've already posted one of these, "A Summary of the Dwarven Caste System". I plan on posting more intermittently. Sometimes I'll do it just because I'm bored, sometimes I'll do it because it relates to something which has recently come up in the campaign. If people like it, maybe I'll set up some sort of schedule in the future - we'll see. For now, hope you like reading these, and thanks for your participation & interest in the game =)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Session #26: Saving Throws - The Encounter
Everyone was here for this session, but we got a really late start due to having everyone level up preemptively. We ended up having about 2 and a half hours of actual play.
The session consisted entirely of the major encounter of this adventure - the party's match (and the rematch of some players) against the tomb spider and its master, Lazlow "Laz" Dirgwyn. This fight was absolutely LADEN with saving throws, with many of the players having to make 4 a turn. Seamus & Vorgym spent almost the entire fight unable to move, which hampered the party's ability to coordinate their attacks. Amnon & Shivra both fell into dying status, and both nearly ended up dead - Amnon had one death save failure left before death, Shivra was one turn from being killed off by ongoing damage. This was an intense combat, and a long one as well.
Lazlow used his powers to heal himself by damaging the tomb spider, using its large health pool (226 HP) to keep himself in the fight. Before long, however, the party managed to get the upper hand, killing the tomb spider & Lazlow, leaving themselves with a broodswarm of the tomb spider's young to fight. This broodswarm managed to escape underneath a bronze statue of Lolth; this statue contains an open sarcophagus in its base.
The party recovered a veritable hoard from Lazlow's body: a spider-silk robe & a bronze spider crown worth 250 gold pieces each; a golf ball-sized black opal worth 500 gold pieces; a pouch of 180 gold pieces; an Amulet of Health +2 which went to Seamus; and a suit of Shadowdance Leather Armor +2 which went to Nirreh. We ended the session there.
I will be sending out PDFs of character sheets to Seamus & Shivra; Seamus' sheet will have the Amulet he received on it & equipped. Good job on this encounter everyone - this was a hard one and you prevailed! Seamus, I need to have you make an Endurance check to see what your filth fever did during the last extended rest; please remind me of this next week!
We will not be having the extra Saturday session this week, too many people unable to make it. See you guys Wednesday!
The session consisted entirely of the major encounter of this adventure - the party's match (and the rematch of some players) against the tomb spider and its master, Lazlow "Laz" Dirgwyn. This fight was absolutely LADEN with saving throws, with many of the players having to make 4 a turn. Seamus & Vorgym spent almost the entire fight unable to move, which hampered the party's ability to coordinate their attacks. Amnon & Shivra both fell into dying status, and both nearly ended up dead - Amnon had one death save failure left before death, Shivra was one turn from being killed off by ongoing damage. This was an intense combat, and a long one as well.
Lazlow used his powers to heal himself by damaging the tomb spider, using its large health pool (226 HP) to keep himself in the fight. Before long, however, the party managed to get the upper hand, killing the tomb spider & Lazlow, leaving themselves with a broodswarm of the tomb spider's young to fight. This broodswarm managed to escape underneath a bronze statue of Lolth; this statue contains an open sarcophagus in its base.
The party recovered a veritable hoard from Lazlow's body: a spider-silk robe & a bronze spider crown worth 250 gold pieces each; a golf ball-sized black opal worth 500 gold pieces; a pouch of 180 gold pieces; an Amulet of Health +2 which went to Seamus; and a suit of Shadowdance Leather Armor +2 which went to Nirreh. We ended the session there.
I will be sending out PDFs of character sheets to Seamus & Shivra; Seamus' sheet will have the Amulet he received on it & equipped. Good job on this encounter everyone - this was a hard one and you prevailed! Seamus, I need to have you make an Endurance check to see what your filth fever did during the last extended rest; please remind me of this next week!
We will not be having the extra Saturday session this week, too many people unable to make it. See you guys Wednesday!
Amnon's Backstory
Full Name: Amnon Eskandarian
Gender: Male
Age: 33
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 165
Hair: Black
Skin: Pale red
Eyes: White
Body Build: Average
Distinguishing Features: Carries a red orb clasped in a dismembered vrock's talons known as the Crimson Orb of Marothal
The story of Amnon begins with the story of the red orb he carries and its heritage. His family, the Eskandarians, were one of the founding families of Vulkannen's wizard guild. Lord Marothal Eskandarian was a wizard who once used a powerful implement, depleted of its power when he died, which was passed down through the generations of the Eskandarian family - this implement is known as the Crimson Orb of Marothal. Through each generation, the owner of the orb would pass it down to their most favored child, along with their blessing (usually in the form of a greater amount of wealth than what was given to the other children).
Subsequently, this orb was passed down to Amnon's father, Akmenos Eskandarian, much to the dismay of his siblings. Finding Akmenos to be cunning, cold, ambitious, manipulative, and unsympathetic, Amnon's grandfather found Akmenos to be the perfect heir to the Eskandarian name, and the greatest hope to bring that name to new heights of power. Becuase of this, Akmenos was isolated from the rest of the family, and developed a condescending and arrogant view against the rest of his family.
Throughout his life, Akmenos did acrew a great means of wealth, but with it, a great deal of enemies. He had only one wife (later dieing of disease, although many suspected foul play by Akmenos himself), and one heir to the orb, his son Barakas. Six years after Amnon's birth, a rich family of merchants, known as the Graymantles, had decided they had enough of Akmenos' political and militaristic stifiling of their profits, and decided to do something about it. They hired a group of assassins through the Cult of Zehir. The assassins were thorough, killing both Akmenos and Barakas, ensuring there would be no retaliation, or anyone to inherit Akmenos' holdings - but Akmenos has another son.
Written out as part of his will, Akmenos expressed a deep hatred for his son, Barakas, describing him as weak, and unfit for the Eskandarian name. In this letter, he described another son recently brought to his attention, living within the poorest section of the Wards, Vulkannen's primary residential quarter. As a final insult to the rest of his family, he belligerently gave the orb away to this illegitimate son to spite the son he so hated and the family he so looked down upon. Amnon was born to Bryseis Grisepian, a poor tiefling who would sometimes turn to prostitution to make ends meet. Throughout his life, Amnon never knew who his father was, or that he was heir by blood to such a fortune.
The orb was brought to him by some prominent mages connected to the Eskandarian family who Akmenos had made executors of his holdings - they relayed the story of his heritage to him. They quickly discovered, however, that this young child had an affinity for magic. Some thinking it to be fate, some the will of the gods, and others, the will of the orb itself, that the only, and most unlikely heir their legacy, also be gifted with magical talent, took it upon themselves to enlist him within the ranks of the wizard's guild. Though Amnon wanted to keep the name of his mother, they insisted he carry on their family's name. They also agreed to comfortably finance his mother for the rest of her life, if he agreed. So for over two decades Amnon trained in the magical arts.
Throughout his training he became friends with a high ranking member of the guild, Archmage Sirilis Starsburden, a female eladrin who specialized in enchantment and illusion. She shared with Amnon views and opinions unpopular with the guild as a whole, and eventually took him on as her own personal apprentice. She explained to Amnon that throughout its history the guild had more and more continued to stifle, restrict, and regulate itself from the true potential of the power they could attain. She explained how the Eskandarians were once not limited to such rules, and had a deep desire to test the boundries of all magical fields to their fullest extent.
Though he not fully convinced of his own opinions on this matter, he shared a deep respect and agreement of her teachings, but never acted upon them against the guild's wishes. Amnon had eventually become a somewhat respected member of the guild, and had taken on many an assignment for them. Unbeknownst to the guild however, he was also set upon secret assignments for Sirilis. Though the purpose of these assignments were unclear, they never yielded the results she was looking for. Until one day, Sirilis said that she had found what she was looking for. "A new era is rising, a time of great reckoning, and purification is at hand!" she exclaimed. With that she once again set forth Amnon in secret, explaining that he was to go alone, and seek out any information regarding the recent outbreak of necromatic activites. Along with this he was to bring back proof of this powerful necromatic magic.
With this, Amnon set off to Falconia, seeking both information and funding for his newly assigned quest, not knowing what he will yet find or what will become of it.
Gender: Male
Age: 33
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 165
Hair: Black
Skin: Pale red
Eyes: White
Body Build: Average
Distinguishing Features: Carries a red orb clasped in a dismembered vrock's talons known as the Crimson Orb of Marothal
The story of Amnon begins with the story of the red orb he carries and its heritage. His family, the Eskandarians, were one of the founding families of Vulkannen's wizard guild. Lord Marothal Eskandarian was a wizard who once used a powerful implement, depleted of its power when he died, which was passed down through the generations of the Eskandarian family - this implement is known as the Crimson Orb of Marothal. Through each generation, the owner of the orb would pass it down to their most favored child, along with their blessing (usually in the form of a greater amount of wealth than what was given to the other children).
Subsequently, this orb was passed down to Amnon's father, Akmenos Eskandarian, much to the dismay of his siblings. Finding Akmenos to be cunning, cold, ambitious, manipulative, and unsympathetic, Amnon's grandfather found Akmenos to be the perfect heir to the Eskandarian name, and the greatest hope to bring that name to new heights of power. Becuase of this, Akmenos was isolated from the rest of the family, and developed a condescending and arrogant view against the rest of his family.
Throughout his life, Akmenos did acrew a great means of wealth, but with it, a great deal of enemies. He had only one wife (later dieing of disease, although many suspected foul play by Akmenos himself), and one heir to the orb, his son Barakas. Six years after Amnon's birth, a rich family of merchants, known as the Graymantles, had decided they had enough of Akmenos' political and militaristic stifiling of their profits, and decided to do something about it. They hired a group of assassins through the Cult of Zehir. The assassins were thorough, killing both Akmenos and Barakas, ensuring there would be no retaliation, or anyone to inherit Akmenos' holdings - but Akmenos has another son.
Written out as part of his will, Akmenos expressed a deep hatred for his son, Barakas, describing him as weak, and unfit for the Eskandarian name. In this letter, he described another son recently brought to his attention, living within the poorest section of the Wards, Vulkannen's primary residential quarter. As a final insult to the rest of his family, he belligerently gave the orb away to this illegitimate son to spite the son he so hated and the family he so looked down upon. Amnon was born to Bryseis Grisepian, a poor tiefling who would sometimes turn to prostitution to make ends meet. Throughout his life, Amnon never knew who his father was, or that he was heir by blood to such a fortune.
The orb was brought to him by some prominent mages connected to the Eskandarian family who Akmenos had made executors of his holdings - they relayed the story of his heritage to him. They quickly discovered, however, that this young child had an affinity for magic. Some thinking it to be fate, some the will of the gods, and others, the will of the orb itself, that the only, and most unlikely heir their legacy, also be gifted with magical talent, took it upon themselves to enlist him within the ranks of the wizard's guild. Though Amnon wanted to keep the name of his mother, they insisted he carry on their family's name. They also agreed to comfortably finance his mother for the rest of her life, if he agreed. So for over two decades Amnon trained in the magical arts.
Throughout his training he became friends with a high ranking member of the guild, Archmage Sirilis Starsburden, a female eladrin who specialized in enchantment and illusion. She shared with Amnon views and opinions unpopular with the guild as a whole, and eventually took him on as her own personal apprentice. She explained to Amnon that throughout its history the guild had more and more continued to stifle, restrict, and regulate itself from the true potential of the power they could attain. She explained how the Eskandarians were once not limited to such rules, and had a deep desire to test the boundries of all magical fields to their fullest extent.
Though he not fully convinced of his own opinions on this matter, he shared a deep respect and agreement of her teachings, but never acted upon them against the guild's wishes. Amnon had eventually become a somewhat respected member of the guild, and had taken on many an assignment for them. Unbeknownst to the guild however, he was also set upon secret assignments for Sirilis. Though the purpose of these assignments were unclear, they never yielded the results she was looking for. Until one day, Sirilis said that she had found what she was looking for. "A new era is rising, a time of great reckoning, and purification is at hand!" she exclaimed. With that she once again set forth Amnon in secret, explaining that he was to go alone, and seek out any information regarding the recent outbreak of necromatic activites. Along with this he was to bring back proof of this powerful necromatic magic.
With this, Amnon set off to Falconia, seeking both information and funding for his newly assigned quest, not knowing what he will yet find or what will become of it.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Session #25: "A Giant-Ass Spider"
Everyone was here for this session. We had some connection problems at the start, but they got fixed and we moved on ahead.
The party jumped down into the spider tunnels to clear out the spiders who had escaped. It was a slow process, as the party made a point of being careful, but they dealt with the remaining monsters quite easily. At the end of the tunnels, they found a path leading deeper, and navigated more spider tunnels until they found a widened tunnel.
In this widened tunnel, the party encountered a giant spider, far larger than anything they'd ever seen. They fled from it, but were eventually cornered, with only a small tunnel to escape through. The spider proved far stronger than them, and they were forced to escape through the tunnel, but not before the spider managed to knock Amnon unconscious and bite Nirreh. The party managed to escape through the tunnel, and found themselves in a hatchery. They destroyed the eggs inside, and decided to extended rest inside the hatchery.
After their extended rest, they headed north and found a hunched-over human man in a spider-silk robe with a purple spider-capped rod in his hand, and a large spider radiating shadow energy from its body, somewhat like a smaller version of the giant spider they'd encountered earlier. The spider and its master were ready for them, and Seamus was struck by two nasty attacks as soon as he entered their chamber. The stage was set for the battle, and we stopped there after rolling initiative.
There was a lot of action in this session. We won't have an extra session this Saturday; hopefully everyone can make it this Wednesday, as this is going to be a big battle!
The party jumped down into the spider tunnels to clear out the spiders who had escaped. It was a slow process, as the party made a point of being careful, but they dealt with the remaining monsters quite easily. At the end of the tunnels, they found a path leading deeper, and navigated more spider tunnels until they found a widened tunnel.
In this widened tunnel, the party encountered a giant spider, far larger than anything they'd ever seen. They fled from it, but were eventually cornered, with only a small tunnel to escape through. The spider proved far stronger than them, and they were forced to escape through the tunnel, but not before the spider managed to knock Amnon unconscious and bite Nirreh. The party managed to escape through the tunnel, and found themselves in a hatchery. They destroyed the eggs inside, and decided to extended rest inside the hatchery.
After their extended rest, they headed north and found a hunched-over human man in a spider-silk robe with a purple spider-capped rod in his hand, and a large spider radiating shadow energy from its body, somewhat like a smaller version of the giant spider they'd encountered earlier. The spider and its master were ready for them, and Seamus was struck by two nasty attacks as soon as he entered their chamber. The stage was set for the battle, and we stopped there after rolling initiative.
There was a lot of action in this session. We won't have an extra session this Saturday; hopefully everyone can make it this Wednesday, as this is going to be a big battle!
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