Phil didn't show up, Sal had to leave early, Bibart's power went out causing him to miss the end.
The party decided to check out the guards' room in the guest quarters, and there they found a staircase which led down into the dungeon. In the dungeon they found survivors of Orcbane Keep, including a familiar face (Steve, the lone survivor of the soldiers outside with the adventurers), being tortured by a pair of chain devils and a wrath devil interrogator. The party surprise-attacked, which drew the jailer, a hideous, deformed hill giant known as the Keeper, and his pets, a pair of displacer beasts named "Stalka" and "Gnasha", but managed to prevail in the end.
Afterward, they learned that Steve and the others had been brought here and interrogated for answers the giants didn't seem to care about - they were being tortured for the sake of torture, it seemed. They convinced Steve not to take bloody vengeance on the giants, retrieved his gear, and helped escort the prisoners from the steading. After that, they did a little bit of exploring, and decided they needed to find the hill giant chief - Steve was able to tell them that the chief spends most of his time in the great hall, the large room in the center of the steading. They opened the door, and did indeed find Chief Nosnra, along with emissaries from the frost giants and the fire giants, as well as an unexpected guest who may complicate things severely...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Session #60: Steading of the Hill Giants, Part 2
Sal had to leave halfway through the 1st encounter, but managed to come back for the 2nd encounter.
In this session the party recovered treasure from the guardhouse by the courtyard and checked out a number of rooms in the main building, discovering the northern bedroom area full of young hill giants, a central great hall where the sounds of revelry could be heard, and a southern area where the kitchen and the guest quarters are found. They explored the southern area in this session.
First, the party fought the hill giant cooks and their slaves in the kitchen, defeating them without too much trouble. Then, the party headed over into the guest quarters area, where they found an emissary of the Clawed Gauntlet, the master vampire Zeras. He had with him two bodyguards, large undead constructs known as boneclaws. Engaging the vampire, the party was faced with the boneclaws and a number of ogre guards who came out of a room behind them when the party attacked.
This encounter proved to be more difficult, but in the end the party beat Zeras, preventing his escape, and easily scattering the ogres. Afterward, the party recovered some treasure from a chest in the guest quarters and a letter which confirmed what Canis had suspected - the Clawed Gauntlet had used zombies in Falconian livery to attack the hill giants and bait them into going to war with Falconia. The letter also stated that the fire and frost giants would be ready to aid "us" (the "us" being undefined) soon. The letter had not been addressed, as the party interrupted Zeras while he was writing it. We stopped here.
In this session the party recovered treasure from the guardhouse by the courtyard and checked out a number of rooms in the main building, discovering the northern bedroom area full of young hill giants, a central great hall where the sounds of revelry could be heard, and a southern area where the kitchen and the guest quarters are found. They explored the southern area in this session.
First, the party fought the hill giant cooks and their slaves in the kitchen, defeating them without too much trouble. Then, the party headed over into the guest quarters area, where they found an emissary of the Clawed Gauntlet, the master vampire Zeras. He had with him two bodyguards, large undead constructs known as boneclaws. Engaging the vampire, the party was faced with the boneclaws and a number of ogre guards who came out of a room behind them when the party attacked.
This encounter proved to be more difficult, but in the end the party beat Zeras, preventing his escape, and easily scattering the ogres. Afterward, the party recovered some treasure from a chest in the guest quarters and a letter which confirmed what Canis had suspected - the Clawed Gauntlet had used zombies in Falconian livery to attack the hill giants and bait them into going to war with Falconia. The letter also stated that the fire and frost giants would be ready to aid "us" (the "us" being undefined) soon. The letter had not been addressed, as the party interrupted Zeras while he was writing it. We stopped here.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Session #59: Steading of the Hill Giants, Part 1
Extra-long session this week.
The party returned, having rescued Sangria, and learned that she had been used for an "Elemental Messenger" ritual - that is to say, she was used to communicate with the king of the fire giants, Snurre Iron-Belly. She could not remember what message she communicated, but she did note that she felt the presence of another dwarf - Seamus - being used to communicate with the frost giant leader.
After dealing with Sangria the party received their monetary reward from Lady Heathlana, and learned a number of things. First, she sent them after the Coterie because she is a follower of the Raven Queen, and the Coterie had attacked a church of the Raven Queen - for that she had them destroyed. Second, Cyrus has been brought back by the Raven Queen as a form of undead called a revenant; he maintains his personality, more or less, but he realizes that he only lives so long as it takes for him to fulfill the purpose vested in him by the Raven Queen, and the experience of dying has changed him considerably. Third, Lukash is performing some sort of ritual to enable him to provide the party with a way of reinforcing themselves in a pinch (OOC: to temporarily replace party members who are unavailable).
Also, the party was given a new task by Sir-Commander Canis Wolfswift and his father, the Duke-General Theron Wolfswift. They have found a way of ending the stalemate with the hill giants - by having the party, the only people strong enough and clever enough to handle this situation, infiltrate the steading and either make peace with or destroy the hill giants' chief, Nosnra.
The party set out on a many-days journey to the steading, and spent quite awhile staking out the place to figure out the best method of entry. After retiring to a cave and fighting a group of hill giants and bugbears who'd followed their tracks, they finally decided to sneak in the next night by climbing up the steading and moving across it. They jumped down into a courtyard, and were soon attacked by trained bulettes and their hill giant masters. The battle proved difficult, but the characters prevailed in the end, and this is where we stopped for the night.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sessions #57 & 58: The Ritual
Two-part recap this time since my post for Session #57 didn't show up.
The party headed to Gravestone Hill Abbey, where they found a priest, Father Dameron, in disguise - the priest turned out to be a follower of Vecna in disguise, with two doppelganger assistants. The party defeated them then headed down and found a dwarf paladin being subjected to a ritual by another follower of Vecna - they freed the dwarf, despite their mistrust of dwarves in general, and defeated the follower, Lis the Vile, and his skeletal minions. They learned that the dwarf, Hefeweizen, was here looking for his sister, who had gone missing.
Heading deeper into the secret tunnels below the abbey, the party was subjected to a powerful sleep spell which trapped them all in a nightmare. They each had to navigate the nightmare and the dangers within to escape - Deckard was confronted by a room of unusual shadows which attacked him, Hefeweizen was trapped in a pit full of snakes and spiders, Vorgym was forced to navigate a cave full of swarming bats, Amnon had to contend with a haunted house full of ghosts, and Shivra was pursued around a field by a scarecrow.
One by one, the party escaped their nightmares and found themselves in a cave. Sangria was being subjected to a ritual by a lich, accompanied by a brain in a jar they recognized - Lazlow Dirgwyn, back for a third time. Sangria seemed to be possessed by some sort of fiery disposition, her eyes burning like flame, her hair flickering in the air as if it were fire, and her mouth moving as if she spoke wordlessly to something. The party attacked Lazlow, and were confronted by a number of nightmare incarnations corresponding to what they'd fought in the shadows. The battle proved immensely difficult, and by the end they were nearly defeated, but Lazlow's lich form was shattered, the nightmare incarnations were dispersed, and the brain in the jar was crushed. The brain in a jar turned out to be the lich's phylactery, its destruction destroying the lich for all time, it would seem.
The party managed to rescue the unconscious Sangria, upon which the hold of the strange ritual was broken, and we stopped there for the night. The Coterie is defeated - what will be next for the "Heroes of the North" and their new dwarven companion?
The party headed to Gravestone Hill Abbey, where they found a priest, Father Dameron, in disguise - the priest turned out to be a follower of Vecna in disguise, with two doppelganger assistants. The party defeated them then headed down and found a dwarf paladin being subjected to a ritual by another follower of Vecna - they freed the dwarf, despite their mistrust of dwarves in general, and defeated the follower, Lis the Vile, and his skeletal minions. They learned that the dwarf, Hefeweizen, was here looking for his sister, who had gone missing.
Heading deeper into the secret tunnels below the abbey, the party was subjected to a powerful sleep spell which trapped them all in a nightmare. They each had to navigate the nightmare and the dangers within to escape - Deckard was confronted by a room of unusual shadows which attacked him, Hefeweizen was trapped in a pit full of snakes and spiders, Vorgym was forced to navigate a cave full of swarming bats, Amnon had to contend with a haunted house full of ghosts, and Shivra was pursued around a field by a scarecrow.
One by one, the party escaped their nightmares and found themselves in a cave. Sangria was being subjected to a ritual by a lich, accompanied by a brain in a jar they recognized - Lazlow Dirgwyn, back for a third time. Sangria seemed to be possessed by some sort of fiery disposition, her eyes burning like flame, her hair flickering in the air as if it were fire, and her mouth moving as if she spoke wordlessly to something. The party attacked Lazlow, and were confronted by a number of nightmare incarnations corresponding to what they'd fought in the shadows. The battle proved immensely difficult, and by the end they were nearly defeated, but Lazlow's lich form was shattered, the nightmare incarnations were dispersed, and the brain in the jar was crushed. The brain in a jar turned out to be the lich's phylactery, its destruction destroying the lich for all time, it would seem.
The party managed to rescue the unconscious Sangria, upon which the hold of the strange ritual was broken, and we stopped there for the night. The Coterie is defeated - what will be next for the "Heroes of the North" and their new dwarven companion?
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Session #56: Faked Deaths (or, the Rigamarole)
Traver did not show, nor did Sal for his first session.
The delvers of House Millenbras attacked the party, capturing most of them - Amnon went invisible and managed to escape. Once in the estate of House Millenbras, the party learned that the delvers had sought to fake their deaths - it hadn't been meant to turn into such a mess, but Amnon's invisibility trick led to the delvers choosing not to take any more chances. Meanwhile, Amnon returned to House Francesca, seeking to find a way to rescue the party - they didn't have many ways to help him, unfortunately.
They learned from Lady Heathlana that Lady Kesselia had been amassing powerful artifacts only, rather than powerful ones as well as valuable or beautiful ones - and that she was hoarding them rather than exchanging them as most of the other noble houses do. Heathlana admitted she was unsure what Kesselia was up to, but she suspected something. She stated that she needed their help with something major, but that first she would need to gain their trust - by having them deal with the Coterie, the organization which sent the Fangs of Zehir after them, allowing them to accomplish something they already wanted to accomplish anyhow. They are using the sewers to travel, so that their faked deaths are not revealed - they fought a group of chuuls in the sewers, which they quickly defeated, and we stopped there.
Hopefully more people show up next week - Sal's character may have to sit out for a bit while the party gets to the proper introduction point, however.
The delvers of House Millenbras attacked the party, capturing most of them - Amnon went invisible and managed to escape. Once in the estate of House Millenbras, the party learned that the delvers had sought to fake their deaths - it hadn't been meant to turn into such a mess, but Amnon's invisibility trick led to the delvers choosing not to take any more chances. Meanwhile, Amnon returned to House Francesca, seeking to find a way to rescue the party - they didn't have many ways to help him, unfortunately.
They learned from Lady Heathlana that Lady Kesselia had been amassing powerful artifacts only, rather than powerful ones as well as valuable or beautiful ones - and that she was hoarding them rather than exchanging them as most of the other noble houses do. Heathlana admitted she was unsure what Kesselia was up to, but she suspected something. She stated that she needed their help with something major, but that first she would need to gain their trust - by having them deal with the Coterie, the organization which sent the Fangs of Zehir after them, allowing them to accomplish something they already wanted to accomplish anyhow. They are using the sewers to travel, so that their faked deaths are not revealed - they fought a group of chuuls in the sewers, which they quickly defeated, and we stopped there.
Hopefully more people show up next week - Sal's character may have to sit out for a bit while the party gets to the proper introduction point, however.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Session #55: The End of House Trannyth
Technical problems abound in this session - as such, we only had time for a single encounter.
The party discovered that Dorian had killed his parents and returned his family to noble status, using disguised monsters to impersonate his family members. He had hired the Fangs of Zehir to kill the party because an organization known as the Coterie, a group with ties to the Clawed Gauntlet, wanted them dead so that their interference with the plans of the two organizations would cease. The fight then began.
It was a brutal encounter, and in the end, Cyrus lay dead. Due to the technical problems we really only had this encounter to get done, and after that we had to stop due to time constraints. The party is down to 4 characters as it stands - Cyrus' resurrection is in great jeopardy due to the warning he received from the Raven Queen about the return of his soul from the Shadowfell as many times as it has causing too much of a disturbance - and they have Dorian as their prisoner, ostensibly to interrogate.
Big things are about to go down...the characters have all but destroyed a Falconian noble house, and such an action is sure to carry consequences. We'll have to see what happens to them next time...
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Session #54: Their True Nature
Some issues with the port number we've been using for all this time caused us to have to start quite late. Traver had to leave an hour before the end.
In this session, the party descended into the basement, sneaking past the guard patrols, and confronted Une Trannyth, who was summoning a blood demon. In the first part of the fight, the party faced Une, her dretch lackeys, and the summoned blood demon. They went down quite easily - the encounter took off in difficulty when Une revealed her true form, that of a night hag.
Une herself didn't prove to be very difficult, and the blood demon, once defeated, gave the party use of a healing surge - the vrocks that Une summoned, however, were quite a challenge, tearing into the party with their sharp talons and nearly killing Cyrus several times. In the end, the party defeated them, however.
After, they discovered that the Trannyths, aside from Dorian, had been killed - impostors, it seemed, stood in their places. They also discovered that House Millenbras would be coming to meet the Trannyths tonight to give them the Hand of Vecna. The party learned of the last hiding place where the Trannyths could be found, and headed down...it is here that we stopped for the night, saving the confrontation with the Trannyths for next time.
In this session, the party descended into the basement, sneaking past the guard patrols, and confronted Une Trannyth, who was summoning a blood demon. In the first part of the fight, the party faced Une, her dretch lackeys, and the summoned blood demon. They went down quite easily - the encounter took off in difficulty when Une revealed her true form, that of a night hag.
Une herself didn't prove to be very difficult, and the blood demon, once defeated, gave the party use of a healing surge - the vrocks that Une summoned, however, were quite a challenge, tearing into the party with their sharp talons and nearly killing Cyrus several times. In the end, the party defeated them, however.
After, they discovered that the Trannyths, aside from Dorian, had been killed - impostors, it seemed, stood in their places. They also discovered that House Millenbras would be coming to meet the Trannyths tonight to give them the Hand of Vecna. The party learned of the last hiding place where the Trannyths could be found, and headed down...it is here that we stopped for the night, saving the confrontation with the Trannyths for next time.
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